Renée's Quilting Blog

Paper Piecing Passion

2009-09-20T13:33:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone, I know it has been quite a long while since I've posted. Life certainly gets in the way. Lots of things happening. I had to sell my car, we really didn't need to have two cars and paying insurance on both was getting out of hand. So, I finally sold it after lots of negotiating. Didn't get what I wanted, but got what I needed. I was able to buy a new CPU, a laptop and lots and lots of fabric. I have taken lots of classes at the local quilt shop this summer and learned how to paper piece. My local quilt shop owner designs her own patterns and all of them are paper pieced. In order for me to do her patterns, I had to take her paper piecing class to reintroduce me to paper piecing. I have not stopped paper piecing since the middle of August. Thank goodness that I took that class, as I am also doing a pink/white Sylvia's Bridal Sampler quilt and there are a lot of blocks that are paper pieced. I am working with the new computer now, so bear with me on the photos. I have lots of blocks done on the sampler, at least 26 (and that's out of 140), but the real progress will start in November when I start the SBS BOM with Stitchin Heaven. I think the swapping is going to have to take a time out for a while. I have signed up for quite a few BOM from some of the quilting shops and most of these quilts are gifts for other people. I would like to get them done within the time frame that the BOM runs.

I have joined the Carol Doak Yahoo Group (that's one of her patterns up there) and met lots of really nice women. I have joined in some of the group swaps and lotteries. I am NOT going to join anymore Christmas swaps, as I don't celebrate Christmas and don't quite know what to do with Christmas blocks. I think I will donate them somewhere. If I felt more charitable towards my son in laws family, I would make a Christmas quilt for his Mom and Dad, but I don't. There are just so many times that one can get slapped in the face when one finally realizes that no matter what you do, it will NEVER be enough. So, I've stopped trying. Ally might have to live with them, but I don't and I don't have to be nice to people who are not nice to me. Since I probably won't see them any time soon, I'm not going to worry about it. To tell the truth, I don't care that much. I have way more important things to worry about than those people.

That's it for now. Going back to watch the football game. Have a great day and keep the piece. Renee

Trying to upload photos

2009-09-03T11:24:00.003-04:00

Bought the new camera and have been having problems with it since the day I brought it home. Now, this post is an experiment to see if I can upload these darn photos that are in the camera. If I can't upload, its going back. Here goes. Well, that is not what I was wanting to do. I am trying to get the photos out of the camera and I can't. I am going to go someplace and try to figure this out. It is so frustrating. Keep the piece.

Quilty Things

2009-07-17T11:37:00.001-04:00

Hi All,

I have decided to make Ally a pink/purple alphabet quilt for Georgie. Seems I was really hoping for a boy and Georgie came out a gorgeous girl. The mostly blue alphabet quilt that I made really doesn't go in Georgie's room, it is pink and white. So, now I am going to make the same quilt for Georgie that I made for Asher, only this time using mostly pink and purple fabrics. Don't know when I'll get to it, but the fabric and the pattern are in a clear plastic bin, just awaiting for me to do it. I also have another pink/purple quilt to make from a Quilt Dash pattern.

Right now I am in the middle of making blocks for a Christmas exchange with one of my Eons quilting groups. I'm doing another block exchange with another Eons group. Lots of the ladies are overlapping groups, so I'm trying to send two blocks out to those, so I'm cutting fabric and trying to sew them up. I've also started a quilt for my niece. She's really funny, my niece. She wanted something with motorcycles and skulls and that Harley stuff, but I just couldn't do it. If she wants the skulls and such, maybe I'll use that fabric as the backing. She has such a pretty room, I really didn't want to use the skulls on the front. I hope she doesn't mind, but then again, anything that comes from me she will love.

I've been trying to save money and I have bought some fabric from Joann's recently. I must say, I will NOT be doing that anymore. The difference between the quilt shop fabric and the Joann's fabric is stark. Joann fabric is so thin you can see through it. You can punch fabric from a quilt shop and nothing will happen to it and you can't see through it. Don't you just love the feel of the quilt shop fabric? And the smell?

One of my local quilt shops is having a summer special. Take as many classes as you want for $100. That sounds wonderful and I did sign up to take four classes. What they don't tell you is the supplies for each class can be as much as $100 too, so you wind up spending way more than you thought. But then again, at the end of each class, I should have some amazing looking quilts. One Block Wonder, kaleidoscope, machine applique and a kit that the shop owner has designed. I'm bringing the Bernina in to have it serviced on Tuesday, so I should have it back in time for the classes in August. I'll bring the Kenmore in for service in August and then I'll bring the Singer in for service in September. Going back to the sewing. Take care and keep the piece. Renee

Sadness and Hypocrisy

2009-07-15T21:09:00.002-04:00

Good evening all,

Well, Ally did come down and I did get to see Georgie and boy, she is gorgeous. What a little girl. I think I left lip marks all up and down her body when I was kissing her all the time. We went to see my Mom at rehab and they went to see the rest of the family and it was okay. Ally brought Georgie to the house to see me, without the republican. I never did see him. Ally came over on Monday, 6/8, with Georgie to say goodbye to me as they were leaving that afternoon. She then left to go back to the hotel to check out and then they went for lunch. While at lunch, she called me to ask if Grandma liked California roll and I said she loves it. So, Ally brought Grandma California rolls for lunch and they all had a nice visit before they left for the airport. Now, anyone who lives in Florida knows that anytime after 2PM it will rain like a hurricane. So, Ally decided to go to the airport before the rain came. They left rehab around 3:30 and by 4:45 my Mom was gone. My Dad said she gasped for breath about five times and then just slumped over. So, he comes home around 5PM and tells me and I now have to call Ally to let her know. So I call her cell around 5:10 and of course it goes right to voice mail. I call her two more times just before 5:30 and she finally calls me back a few minutes later. I tell her, she goes hysterical, to the extent that I don't understand a thing she is saying. I tell her to call me back when they get home and I hang up. She called me at 11:30 to tell me that they were home and I told her I would call her the next day and let her know about the funeral.

After many phone calls, many plans, much crying, Dad and I pack for our "trip" to New York. The funeral will be on Wednesday the tenth up in New York. My niece has lined up a friend to watch her two kids, but of course, my daughter is going to bring her baby to the funeral. The reason: her mother in law wants to go to the funeral to be moral support for Ally. Does she not realize that Ally will have ALL her family there for moral support. If she wants to show her support, stay home and watch the baby. Finally, after much talking back and forth, Ally finally decides to leave the baby home. She will pick her up after the burial at the cemetery and come back to Brooklyn to my brother's house where my Dad and I are staying. After a long delay at the airport because of weather, we finally take off after 5PM on Tuesday, the ninth and get in the JFK after 10PM. Thank goodness our bags came out almost immediately and we were off to Brooklyn. We had to be at the funeral home at nine, so the limo came to pick us up. We were there for almost a half hour when Ally finally arrived. There was traffic from Long Island to Brooklyn, that's why she was a little late. The republican didn't even look at me, never mind come over and give me his condolences. My Aunt told me later on that he didn't go over to her either. We sat shiva (Jewish people sit shiva for a week after the death of a family member) at my brother's house. Ally's other family (her in laws) did not come to see us, they did not call us, they did not send a card. So, what can I say about them? Nothing. I will say nothing. A time will come for them to go and meet their maker and they will have to suffer the consequences then. Dad and I stayed up in New York for a week and we are now home for a while. We will go back up at the end of October for Pearl's one year birthday. I will probably go up alone for Georgie's as hers is at the end of January. Dad and I are doing fine, we have each other and we have the dog. He keeps us busy. And we have those grand kids. Three of the most beautiful babies I have ever seen.

Okay, now for the hypocrisy. Republican hypocrisy. If you are going to spout family values, live by what you spout. If you cannot live up to being faithful to your wife, maybe you should just get a divorce. Maybe you shouldn't be spouting off about other people. Maybe people who throw stones shouldn't live in glass houses. This makes me sick. When Clinton was in office and he had the Lewinsky thing, the republicans were calling for him to resign. RESIGN they all said. What Clinton did was horrible. Well, they couldn't get him to resign, so they "impeached" and censured him instead. Now, we have a governor and a senator who had intercourse with women who are not their wives, and are they going to resign? Nope, they are not. The governor did get censured, but the senator has decided to run again. I guess the republican motto now is Do as I say, not as I do. When Larry Craig had his bathroom stance thing, resign they said. When Vitter had his little fling with the DC Madam, did he resign? Nope. What is it about republicans? Do they not know how hypocritical they are? Do they care? No, I don't think so. I hope the republican party can learn from all these incidents and maybe come up with a better platform than just family values. Now the republicans want to say that marriage is a private thing and we should just leave these men alone so that they can work out their problems. Well, if marriage is private, then why are they so scared of gay people getting married? What is it about gay people getting married that will make straight people getting married different? Or mean something different? Why are they so threatened? Well, time for me to get off the soapbox. I'm tired and I really need to get some sleep. Hopefully I can get back to some quilty things soon. Keep the piece.

It's been a while

2009-06-04T16:05:00.002-04:00

Hi Everyone,

I know its been some time since I've been here. Life seems to get in the way sometimes. It's not been such a very good time for me. My daughter and her family are coming down here tomorrow and I don't think I am going to get to see my granddaughter. It seems that it is too much trouble for them to stop here at my house to see me after going to the rehab home to see my mom. The hotel that they are staying at is north of my house and they have to pass my house in order to get there. But...it is too hard for them to stop here. I really think it is just that they land at 6:30PM and they are renting a car and then they are going to go see my mom and of course my dad will be there and it will be dinner time and why should they have to worry about paying for dinner when grandpa will? And by the time they finish dinner it will be late and Georgie will have to go to sleep, so it is too much for them to stop here. And you know what? It's quite all right with me. I don't ever want to see that republican again, so if my daughter ever decides to come to Florida with her child without him, that's just all right with me. I have this feeling that this little girl is not going to know me and she will find out about me when she's a teenager and then she will turn to her parents and treat them the same way they are treating me. I can only hope. I just want my little girl back, not this thing that the republican's family have created. I'm really tempted to tell them to just adopt her and be done with it. I've also decided to just do QOV quilts from now on. My little girl doesn't seem to see the value in what I do, so she and the family will no longer be endowed with my handiwork. I will make quilts for people who are much more deserving and appreciative. That's it for now. Renee

Quilty Things

2009-04-12T14:35:00.005-04:00

Since I don't do enough piecing, I have started a BOM with my QuiltingForAll group. Since I am having trouble posting my photos on the group site, I will post them here. I caught up this afternoon with the first April BOM. There they are. We are doing two blocks a month, so I am using the same pink fabric for the two blocks. Each month I will use a different pink fabric. I am trying to use the same white fabric and green fabric, but I am running out of green, so as soon as I have 12 blocks, I will change the green fabric for the last 12 blocks. I am also going to be doing another BOM with my Eons quilting group. This one started in August, but with no swapping. I think we are getting ready to do a BOM swap starting soon. I'm also doing at least two Bonnie Hunter scrap quilts all the while, so I'm keeping busy. The job market down here in Florida for older people is very slim and with the way the economy is going, I don't see myself getting a job any time soon. So, thank goodness I have parents who let me live with them and help them out, otherwise I would be on the street. So that's it for now. Watching the Yankees play the KC Royals with my Dad, so I'm going back to the game. BBL.

Thanks for the support

2009-04-12T14:30:00.002-04:00

Thanks to all who have e mailed me and commented on the blog. I really do appreciate all the support that you've shown me. My relationship with my daughter is there, although strained. They are coming down to Florida in June and I will get to visit with my granddaughter for at least a day. They are coming for a weekend only and since I do not wish to spend any time with the person she is married to, I have requested that the rest of the family make their own plans with them if they want to see them. I have also requested that they do not confront her or try to make things right. She is conflicted enough. I do not want her in an uncomfortable position with him being right there. So I will end this by saying things are getting better, but things are definately not resolved.

Hurt and Upset

2009-03-12T17:16:00.003-04:00

So, I have become a Grandmother. Whoopee!!! My daughter gave birth on January 23rd to a beautiful little girl. That was Friday night. I arrived on my scheduled day of the 24th and spent a miserable 3 nights at my daughter's apartment. I must say, that being disrespected and treated with contempt is not my idea of a good time. That f*****g moron that she married is the most horrible person I have ever met. Her father is turning over in his grave because she married so beneath her. I have never been treated so badly in all my life. I thought I was going up to help with the baby, but every time I would have had time with her, she was brought downstairs to be with his mother (they live in a 2 family house). That baby was with his mother more time than she was with me and that woman lives there 24/7. Sorry to say, I will probably not have a good relationship with that girl because of her moronic parents. I think my daughter has forgotten everything that her father and I taught her. She just threw is all right out the window. I'm just so hurt and angry that I haven't even talked to her since Wednesday the 28th of January. I don't know if I can ever forgive her and I certainly will NEVER, EVER forgive him. He should just be glad that my Hungarian didn't come out and curse him, cause those curses come true. And if he doesn't at least attempt to apologize to me, that curse may still be placed upon his head. Sorry this is not quilty, but I just had to put my feelings down and this was just the tip of the iceberg. I'm one of those people that holds the anger in, but when it comes out, its like a volcano, it erupts. I don't think I have ever been this angry at anyone ever. I'm not going to say anything about him, because "they" say that if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything, and I don't have anything nice to say about him. The sad thing, is my daughter doesn't see that he disrespects her family, especially me. Sad, sad, sad. Okay, on to the quilty things, they are much more enjoyable.

I have read all my group digests and on "Quiltvillechat" they were talking about a Bonnie pattern called "Jared Takes a Wife". So I looked into it and decided that I would like to make that quilt. Of course, I changed the colorway to suit me and the quilt is green, pink and white. The star points and the sashing are pink, the background is white and everything else is green. All different shades of green. The blocks are coming out real nice, if I do say so myself, haha. I'm also trying to finish up some of my UFO's. The problem with that is, I keep on getting the quilting magazines and I keep on pulling out patterns and then pulling fabric to make the patterns and I create more UFO's. I'm going to start to make some quilts for me as all the ones I've already made have been gifts for others. I think I need to take some time and create for me for a change. Anyway, that's it for now. Keep the piece. Renée

I've Lost My Mind

2009-01-18T17:13:00.003-05:00

I am leaving for New York next week for a month. I have started a mystery quilt with Mystery Quilts and I have decided to start a Perkiomen Daydreams Quilt from Bonnie Hunter's book, "Scraps and Shirttails...." I thought this would make a dent in my stash. It has not. You would think that you would use a lot of fabric, but when you start to sew and then you cut and then you sew some more, you realize that even though the pieces seem small, you aren't using that much fabric. There are 20 rows by 20 rows of 5.5" blocks in this quilt. I think I have two rows finished. I am trying to use different fabric in each of the blocks, but it is not working out that way. I can't stand to cut up all that fabric and I don't have as much red and yellow as I had thought. I am really going to have some serious withdrawal when I'm up in NY for the month. Thank goodness for the computer, at least I can vicariously see fabric through the internet. I'm sure that this stay in NY will pass so quickly that I will be bemoaning the fact that it wasn't long enough. Anyway, I've lost it and I hope it doesn't come back. Piece. Renée

Double Delight Progress

2009-01-07T14:55:00.005-05:00

I was so bored doing those darn triangles for the square in a square blocks that I peeked and decided to do clues 4 and 5 together. I'm doing the square in a square blocks as leaders/enders. I have three more nine patch and four more Rolling Star blocks to finish, but I am NOT laying this quilt on the diagonal. I will lay it out straight and see how many blocks I need to do it that way. I just don't have the room to do a diagonal layout, so I will do it straight. I've noticed that some of the other ladies didn't do a diagonal layout on some of Bonnie's other mysteries, so I will not with this one either. And if I have to wait until someone puts one up in the photos, I will wait. It's not like I don't have a bunch of other things to do, lol. Going back to sew, piece. Renee

I WON FIRST PRIZE IN THE FABSHOPHOP

2009-01-06T14:59:00.003-05:00

OMG!!! I just read my e mails and there was a congratulatory e mail from Laurie Harsh of the Fabric Shop Network, Inc. I participated in the Holiday Hop, because I like to go to the shops and look at all the pretty fabrics and the new patterns. When I was working, I would sometimes buy fabric, but I always do the Hops. I never and I mean NEVER even imagine that I would win something, anything. What a shock!! I'm so excited, I'm surprised that you all didn't hear me scream. LOL. Hear I am in sunny South Florida doing a very happy dance. Piece. Renee

Totally off the quilting topic

2009-01-04T09:32:00.003-05:00

I have had it with the hypocrisy. Why is it that Israel can get bombarded with bombs from all directions, but if they should fight back, everyone gets all upset? What part of a country defending themselves is wrong? If Israel just sat back and took all the bombings, eventually all the Israeli's would be dead. But I guess that is just want the people doing the bombing want. Look, the USA was attacked on 9/11. What did we do? Didn't we go to Afghanistan to try to find Bin Laden and get or kill him? Isn't that what a country is supposed to do when they are attacked? For years, Israel has been bombarded by rockets and suicide bombings. One of my brother's friends lost a child on one of those bus bombings a few years ago. It's not like the people getting killed in Israel are soldiers. They are innocent people. Why do cowards always pick on the innocent? That's what I think these "people" are, the ones bombing Israel, COWARDS. Come out from behind the innocent, come out from behind the masks. If you are so proud of what you do, why do you hide? COWARDS, all of them.

Finished Clue 1A of Double Delight

2009-01-03T12:27:00.002-05:00

These are my Clue 1A of the Double Delight Mystery on Quiltville. The green squares are the only color I changed. Everything else is the same as Bonnie's. I am now working on Clue 1B, I'm usually faster, but these square in a square are really hard and Bonnie has given us a really great technique, but it take a little longer to do. So, slow and steady. I'm going to be the tortoise this time instead of the hare. I have to admit, this is the first time in doing square in a square that it actually comes out square, without it being wonky. They might actually fit together this time. Going back to 1B now. Later. Piece. Renee

Double Delight

2009-01-02T17:42:00.003-05:00

On Quiltvillechat we have been having dicussions on fabric, amounts of fabric, etc. I'm doing my in a semi-controlled scrappy. I have different neutrals for each of the clues that call for neutrals as of now. For 1A I am using a fabric that is almost white with mottled pastels; for 2A I am using a variety of scraps and yardage that I've scoured about looking for and I also am using 11 different light pink fabrics; for 2B I am using a fabric that is a little darker and some of it looks almost pink and for 2C I am using a beige fabric with red swirls and blue dots. Don't know how anyone else is doing it, but that's how I am and I'm stickin' to it.

Oh, and by the way. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! I am brain dead most of the time, so forgive me if I don't know what time of the year it is. Hope everyone has a great 2009 with much health and wealth. Piece. Renee

Fabric Changes in both mysteries

2009-01-01T20:49:00.003-05:00

Okay, I admit it. I changed out the purple for brown, so the only color that is different in my quilt from Bonnie's is the blue for green.

Now, the fabric for Mystery Quilts has changed out altogether. This mystery calls for 3 different neutrals (of the same tone), one dark and three mediums. So I picked pink as my mediums, without knowing that I should have picked three totally different colors. Lesley was kind enough to let me know that I needed to change to the different colors and then she must have done something on the computer or something, because then she said that the pattern would come out with the fabrics that I had chosen. But, when there is a need for fabric, new fabric, Renee heeds that call. Joann's was having a sale and I needed a ruler for the Double Delight, so I had to go. As I got my ruler, the new Quiltmaker magazine, some pins (straight and for sandwiching) and I was walking around the aisles, where does my wondering cart go? Straight for the fabric. What could I do but follow? So I found a really nice chocolate brown to add to the two that I already had (but didn't have enough of) and then that yellow, green and pink batik started singing out to me. I had to get it. And from there it was easy peasy to find something that went with it. And the funny thing, the name of that batik is Large Wedding Rings, the magenta is called Tango Daisy and the green one is Scroll batik. So with the black and the neutrals, I think this should be a whopper of a colorful quilt. Way out passed my comfort zone. I am not changing it anymore. I probably won't be able to start it until I come home from New York anyway. That's it, I need to get back to sewing up those square in a square blocks for the Double Delight. I'm almost finished with clue 1-A and then on to cutting fabric for clue A-2. Have a great evening. Piece. Renee

SSCS 2008 = gifts from my Secret Santa

2008-12-29T11:27:00.004-05:00

Okay, we got so excited with the package, that we opened it up and tore open all the lovely packages inside. Vanessa sent along a really lovely letter along with all these lovely gifts. There was another one, but my Dad really loves licorice and he tore open that package as soon as the wrapping was off it. So they didn't last too long. I don't know if you can see the great koala fabric that everything is lying on, but I have been collecting anything koala for almost 30 years and this was such a wonderful surprise to receive. Vanessa sent along two other Australian fat quarters, but for the life of me, I don't remember where I put them. I have been trying to straighten up the den before my trip to NY, so I must have put them somewhere where I thought I would remember, but......We haven't had any of the Vegamite yet, I think we're scared, lol. I have been using the pin cushion, and I found two pins in it before I took the picture. It is a staple beside my sewing machine and I have another one that I received in another swap on my cutting table. And the wall hanging. What can I say? I don't think any picture can do it justice. Just beautiful. I am in awe. And it jingles. Vanessa put bells on the bottom of each panel. I have it hanging on a lamp shade right by by cutting table so I can see it all the time. I'm sorry I didn't take pictures of everything when they were still in the box or before I ripped into everything, but they were wrapped in red tissue paper with green ribbon bows, really pretty. Thank you so much Vanessa, I appreciated everything you sent and I really do hope that I can get over to your country before too long. This has been a really fun swap and I hope everyone has a very happy, healthy and quilty New Year. Renée

Double Delight

2008-12-29T11:21:00.003-05:00

This is the last time that I am going to change my fabrics. I have FINALLY decided on these. I don't know if you can see, but the top fabric is dark purple with light lilac flower on it. I am using that as my indigo, the green is my brown and everything else is the same. I might make just one more change and that would be to get some solid or tone on tone green and purple just to help make the pinks stand out more. We shall see if I get inspired to go out today or tomorrow. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much and have a wonderful New Year. Renée

SSCS 2008

2008-12-26T13:24:00.003-05:00

Here are the steps in my Secret Santa Swap gift for Jo in Tasmania. Even though it was paper pieced, it still came out wonky. The sashing was supposed to be flying geese, but I just couldn't work with such small pieces of fabric, so I ditched that idea and just used a regular sashing. I didn't have much in the way of Christmas fabric, so I used what I could find. I loved that holly fabric. I had this done in August and then just put if off to the side. Before I knew it, I was receiving e mails from Chookyblue and it was time to mail and I still hadn't finished it. Oh, what to do. So I attempted to quilt it myself, that was a big mistake. I wound up just tying it. And then to bind. What's a girl to do? I took the easy way out and I just pulled from the backing and sewed it to the front. I did the best I could with these fingers of mine. I hope the boat load of fat quarters I also sent will take the edge off the disappointment that Jo must feel getting my meager offering. So sorry. Renée

Finished One Mystery, Starting another

2008-12-26T13:13:00.003-05:00

Well, I finished the Christmas mystery and now, thank goodness, Bonnie has decided to give us a New Year's present and is doing another mystery called Double Delight. I have picked my fabrics and this one is not going to be scrappy. I found some yardage in my stash and I am going to use that. Of course, I am changing some of the colors, mine to be pink, green and purple. This is going to be for me, me, me. I've done enough gifting of quilts lately, I would like to have one for my bed.

Those are the fabrics, up there and the other is the finished top of the Christmas mystery. I am going to attempt to quilt that one myself, we shall see. I hope everyone had a great holiday. Renée

Next Mystery Project

2008-12-21T10:13:00.004-05:00

Here are my fabric choices for the next mystery quilt that I have decided to do. One of the nice ladies on Quiltvillechat told us about this group, A Pocketfull of Mysteries, on yahoo. So, since I do not celebrate Christmas, I've decided to do this mystery as it starts the day after Christmas. I won't be busy with all the things that you are busy with after Christmas, so I should have loads of time to do this mystery. Lots of the women from Quiltvillechat will be here with me, so I won't be alone. It took me quite a while, at least four days, to finally decide on these fabrics. Thank goodness I asked for help and Dorothy Young, who runs Apocketfullofmysteries, said that they were okay. So, Thursday I will cut the fabrics, although the focus fabric is already cut, as I was using this come heck or high water. I might do another with the top fabrics, as I really don't know what to use those chili's for. I can make the duck one for my new grandbaby and I can donate the chile one. So, I will keep myself busy until I have to pack for my month up in New York, ugh. Cold weather. Yucky. I will be taking pictures of my SSCS 2008 gifts shortly and will post them on Thursday or maybe Wednesday night as the Aussie's will have already celebrated the holiday. I received amazing gifts. Unfortunately, I am not a needle work person. The only needle work that I can do by hand is needlepoint and some small amount of binding. All the ladies are so talented, so creative, so wonderful, my work cannot even compare. I hope I haven't disappointed Jo too much as she is one talented and creative woman. Well, off to watch some football, GO JETS!!! Have a happy, quilty day. Renée

4D Sonogram of my Granddaughter

2008-12-13T21:17:00.004-05:00

This is just way cool. That's my grandbaby down there in that picture. You can see her eye, nose, mouth. Isn't she just the cutest thing? She looks just like Ally. I hope she's as healthy as Ally was and as good a baby. They broke the mold when Ally was created, that's why we didn't have anymore. Ally gained one and a half pounds in two weeks. She goes back to the doctor on the 23rd and then she starts once a week visits. The baby is 4 pounds, 3 ounces. They couldn't tell how long she was as the screen for this sonogram is too small. However, how awesome that you can actually see the baby's face? I'm trying to get myself into gear to go up north, but I am not looking forward to the COLD. I haven't even gotten my ticket yet. I'm going to have to go up for a month because of President's week. The weekend that I would like to come home is the last weekend of President's week, so the ticket prices were incredibly high. So I'm going to have to go back on the Monday after President's week. Oh, well. I'll go to Brooklyn and bond with my grand nephew and grand niece. And my big brother will take me to the airport and my daughter can look after her daughter and herself all by herself. Anyway, going to bed now. Isn't she cute?

MC Blocks

2008-12-04T20:15:00.003-05:00

Here are two of the lovely MC Blocks that I've been swapping. These were two of the blocks that were sent to me. As you can see, I chose pink and purple as my colors. I'll post some of the other blocks soon. This was an experiment. It seems that I cannot upload to an e mail, but I can upload to my blog. How confusing. Anyway, really nice blocks, huh?

Way Too Many Projects

2008-11-24T12:30:00.003-05:00

Well, finished most of my swaps. Mailed off the Ohio stars civil war fabric, the batik stars, the nine patch blocks for December, January and February and I have the Maker's Choice blocks all ready for mailing. I will NOT be doing so many swaps at one time again. One or two is quite enough. So, I will be staying with my Maker's Choice groups and whatever else we decide to do after and I will be staying with the Quiltville Swap group as Quiltville was the first group that I joined. These groups seem to be the most flexible and agreeable and forgiving with all the foibles that we quilter's have. I cannot show photos of my SSCS swap as I just finished putting it all together in a box to be mailed off. I will post photos after Christmas. Above are two quilts that I just picked up from the quilter on Saturday. The alphabet quilt is for my grandchild, I am working on another quilt for her. Can you see the quilted dog? That's what I picked to have quilted on the quilt. It's just too cute! The Carolina Crossroads is for my Mom's friend. Finally finished. Hopefully I will get to the other Bonnie quilts that I am in the process of finishing. See you all soon and have a very happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Proud To Be An American

2008-11-05T23:03:00.002-05:00

I live in the greatest country in the world. I'm so proud of us. Let's hope that intelligence will rule the day. Stem cell research, Roe v Wade staying put, a more balanced Supreme Court, and maybe, hopefully, a more united nation.

Well, the PO has lost another swap of mine. I'm going to have to spend the extra money and send everything from now on Priority. Seems that only the Priority gets to where its supposed to.

I'll get to some new photo's tomorrow, as I'm going to bed now.

Keep the piece. Renée

My, How Time Does Fly

2008-10-13T16:20:00.004-04:00

I know, I know. I haven't been here in a while. When it comes to the end of September, I just go into a funk. My husband passed away the day after my 40th birthday, sixteen years ago. Ten years later, on the eve of my 50th birthday, his brother passed away. Almost ten years to the day. Some years I just don't get out of bed. And this year, more drama. It seems that my daughter's in laws are planning a baby shower for her. Very nice. The problem is it is already the middle of October. When are they planning to have this party? And when are they going to tell me? I took it upon myself to e mail Ally's sister in law and was informed that they were planning for Thanksgiving weekend. When were they going to let me know? I have to make airline reservations. Don't they know how expensive it is to fly during the holiday? Well, turns out that I can't afford to go up for the shower and for when she gives birth. I had to prioritize. Going up for when she has the baby is more important to me than being there for a party. I know she is upset, but there is nothing I can do about it. She'll get over it. The party is six weeks away and they haven't even sent out invitations. I hope Ally isn't too upset when she looks out over the party goers and doesn't see any of her family there. Half our family lives down here in Florida and the other half lives in NY (Brooklyn). The problem is the holiday weekend. We here in Florida can't afford to pay close to $1,000 for a round trip ticket to go to NY for a party over the Thanksgiving weekend and the NY family have family of their own coming in and they can't attend. It just comes down to the fact that since I live here in Florida and they are all up in NY, they don't even think about asking me, and I feel they don't even think about me. I'm hurt, but I won't bother Ally with this now. I'll wait until she has the baby and then I will unload on her. Because she is not innocent in all of this either. Sorry, don't mean to vent, but this is the only place that I can. On to some quilty things.

I am turning into a swapping queen. I've joined a Round Robin group; a batik strip swap; a star block swap; a Maker's Choice swap; a monthly swap of either fat quarters or blocks, and of course, the Christmas Swap. I've finished piecing the Christmas swap and I actually have it sandwiched, awaiting to be quilted. I can do the quilting, I just can't do the binding. I'm going to have to go up to my LQS and have her show me how to do the mitered corners. I've received my first round of the Round Robin and I've pieced on the border to that one and it's waiting to be mailed for the next round. The block above is my test block for the Galaxy of Stars quilt block swap. I'm doing 5 friendship stars with a square in a square center and an eight pointed star with a different color in the center than the star tips. I'll post a photo of that when I do it later.

I'm getting off now as the thunder is really getting bad. I'll be back later on. Renée

IKE

2008-09-14T18:10:00.002-04:00

We subscribe to DirecTV. Right now we have a live feed from Channel 11 in Houston, Texas. They have been broadcasting 24/7, no commercials, since the start of Hurricane Ike. My heart goes out to all citizens of the Houston area. This storm has been horrible. As someone on the low end of the economic scale, I can't for the life of me understand why someone would want to build a multimillion dollar house right on the beach, when they know that it can be gone in a flash by a storm. The devastation on Galveston Island is horrific. And if these people have insurance, the price that everyone else is going to pay for them to rebuild is going to be astronomical. I really wish that all governments, local, county, state and federal, would not allow anyone to build on the beach. When you have to build your house on stilts, that should be an eye opener right there. I live in South Florida. We have hurricanes here too. We might have some very large condos built on the beach, but as far as I know, we do not have any houses built on stilts on the beach. I know there is a place called Stiltsville out near Miami, but those house are built not on the beach, but in the ocean. And when the last one is demolished by any kind of storm, they are not allowed to rebuild. State Farm wanted to have an increase in premiums here in Florida of almost 50%. Thank goodness the Florida legislature turned them down. And when they tell you that you better evacuate or you're gonna die, got the heck out of there. There are thousands of people who didn't listen and now they are being rescued and then shipped out of the area. This is so devastating, whole communities have been wiped off the map. The area looks like a pile of rubble. I don't know if it is even worth it to rebuild these places. The whole infrastructure of the communities have been compromised. Water is everywhere, houses have been blown or swept onto the roads. There is no phone service, no electricity, no sewage, no nothing. Complete and utter devastation. If anyone remembers what South Dade looked like after Andrew, this is worse. Much worse. This is going to be a really interesting development. Let's see how long it takes for this to be rebuilt. To me, this is worse than Katrina. Katrina left the buildings standing. This storm took the buildings and everything else with it. Even the streets. This is horrible, just horrible. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone impacted by this storm. Renée

IT''S A ......

2008-09-10T18:34:00.001-04:00

GIRL!!!!!

Update and updates

2008-09-08T21:27:00.003-04:00

Okay, I know it's been a while, but I've been busy doing the Old Tobacco Road mystery on Quiltville. This one has been really trying my patience. For whatever reason, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to put the darn thing together. So, I'm going to put it away for a while and work on some other things. My nephew and his wife, my niece, are celebrating their tenth anniversary with a party this Saturday, so I'm going to start making a quilt for them. I know it won't be finished by the time of the party, but they will get it eventually. LOL!!

My doctor's appointment was okay. She prescribed my high blood pressure medication and then told me to go for some blood and urine tests. Those came back as I expected, except for the urine test. Seems I might have an infection, so I've been drinking cranberry juice. My cholesterol is high, both of them. I have another appointment on the 16th and we'll take it from there. I'm sure I'll get a prescription for a high cholesterol medication. I have to get a mammogram, but without insurance, I'm looking for one of those free mammograms. We were going to go two Mondays ago, but we had Fay come for a visit and had to postpone.

Ally goes for the sex sonogram on Wednesday. Then we will know if we are having a Dylan or an Ursula. I can't wait to see the sonogram. Boy, I wish I were there.

Thank goodness we didn't get Ike, the hurricane. We got some wind and some rain from Hanna, but we have been dodging bullets all hurricane season. Just as long as they stay away from here.

That's it for now. Going to bed. Keep the piece. Renée

Thinks I did this summer

2008-08-19T09:37:00.002-04:00

This is a frog quilt that I made for my niece Joslyn. It is not quilted yet, as I have five tops at the LA already. I'll get to this one when those come home.
Le Ann Weaver of Persimmon Quilts collects autograph blocks to make QOV's (Quilts of Valor) for our wounded veterans. This time she put out a call for string autograph blocks. These are not them. My blocks are in an envelope ready to be mailed. This is what Renée does when she finds a new technique. She makes a whole bunch. Le Ann asked for one block and I sent 20 and then made this. Great way to use up strips of fabric.
This is a Seseme Street quilt that I've decided to give to Ally's friend Stephanie for her son Max. It also is not quilted yet. I've been looking through all my UFO's and this was one of them. So I've done three UFO's this summer, yippee.
This is my pink and white version of Bonnie Hunter's Smokey Mountain Stars. I'm still putting this one together. I have a few more rows to do and then I will attach the rows. This one if for ME. Finally.
These are the fabrics that I have taken out to make Bonnie's next mystery quilt. Those fabrics are actually green not blue. These are all fat quarters that I've rescued from my POD. I can't wait to get the other four boxes that are in there.

I'm also still making my Blue Ridge Beauty as a leader/ender. It is almost ready to be put into rows, but I have some more blocks to make.

Okay, Fay is wreaking havoc here and before I get zapped I'm going to get off. Take care and keep the piece. Renée

Found Picture of Ally

2008-08-14T15:50:00.003-04:00

I found the picture of Ally on my computer so here she is in all her pregnant glory. She's 15 weeks along in this picture. She's gained two pounds and the baby is due in January. Isn't it exciting? Keep the piece. Renée

What the heck am I thinking?

2008-08-14T15:35:00.002-04:00

Okay, what am I thinking? I am going to do the BOM from Judy Laquidara at PatchworkTimes.com. I've already decided that all my blocks are going to be in the same colors, but different fabrics. I don't have yardage, I have scraps and fat quarters, so I don't have enough yardage to do the whole quilt with all the same fabrics. Besides, I'm trying not to buy any new fabric, so my quilt will be pink, purple, green and yellow. Now I am going to do the first block . The second block comes out tomorrow so I better get busy. I'm going to try to get the logo thingy on the side of my blog. This should be fun, NOT!!!! Keep the piece. Renée

Update on my very good friend

2008-08-13T21:52:00.002-04:00

I realized as I was reading my blog that I haven't let you all know how my friend is doing. Her husband called me right after the operation and said that everything went well and she was in recovery. Well, she called me when she got home and she was very glad that she was home. She felt a little weak but other than that she felt really good. Her friends and neighbors have been sending food over so she doesn't have to cook or go out. She said everyone has been really great and treating her like a Queen, which she is. She is going to need some after care, but they don't know if she will have chemo and/or radiation. They are still waiting for the pathology report.

On to better news. Ally went to the Doctor yesterday and she has gained a whole two pounds and she heard the baby's heartbeat. Next month they do a more intensive sonogram where they will be able to tell the sex. She wants to do the sonogram before she goes to the Doctor so that the Doctor will have the report on the sonogram when she goes for her next visit. Alex will go with her for the sonogram and hopefully to the next Doctor's visit.

Okay, that's it for the updates. I'm going to see if I can get a photo of Ally up here somewhere. Have a great day and enjoy the Olympics. Keep the piece. Renée

SSCS

2008-08-13T21:39:00.002-04:00

Hi All,

Well, I received the name of my swap partner today and I am busy sewing way out of my comfort zone for this swap. I sure hope that my swap partner will take into account that I am only a quilt piecer. I usually don't quilt and I don't bind either. Since I am paper piecing this mini quilt, I think I am going to give it to my long armer to quilt and then have the binder bind it too. Although the pattern suggest fabric and colors, I am making this a little scrappy and trying to use whatever Christmas fabric that I have. I will admit that if I don't like the way it comes out, I do have some other ideas in mind. I will give kudos to Bonnie Hunter though for giving me confidence in going out of my comfort zone. These little squares would not be possible without the paper piecing and I am getting better at it the more I do. I would post photos, but I don't want my partner to know what it is that I am doing. I will take photos as I go along and post when I know that my partner has received and opened her swap. Since I've been watching the Olympics, I've also been sewing. It's been exciting watching Michael Phelps going for all those medals. Can't imagine how proud his Mom must be. Going back to the piecing, have a great day and keep the piece. Renée

Updates

2008-08-07T08:33:00.002-04:00

I have been busy piecing. Le Ann Weaver, from Persimmon Quilts, sent me an e-mail about their autograph blocks for quilts for the troops. The autograph block is a string block with a white stripe down the middle. I've never done a string block before, so I was intrigued to do this one. Le Ann did give one caveat, they are addicting. She was right. I didn't do just one, I did 20. They are now in an envelope waiting to go to the Post Office. I have some fabric that I had put away for Ally which I am now going to cut up into strings and do a string quilt.

I've also begun the Mystery Quilt #5 from webequilts.com. This was fun and I started late but caught up quickly. The last clue came out yesterday with the directions on how to lay out the quilt. I'll get to that part over the weekend. It was a red, white and blue quilt. I was going to do it for QOV, but then I decided to make it a little more juvenile so that I can give it to my niece on the birth of her baby in October.

I was also going to do the Fuzzy Tail quilt for Ally's baby. But she has informed me that I am making too many quilts. How can you make too many quilts? But she had a point, how many alphabet quilts does one need? Since I have already made an alphabet quilt for her, I don't really need to make another one. Maybe I'll use the fabric in a string quilt, lol.

I've finally made an appointment with the doctor. Of course she is so busy she can't see me until next Friday, the 15th. Good thing I'm not in dire need of an appointment. I'll give the update on that next week.

Now, let's see if I can upload the pictures. For some reason blogger was having trouble yesterday and my post didn't post and my pictures didn't upload. Here we go. Okay, now my camera is giving me fits. I really do need to get another one and soon. I'll work on this and get back if and when I fix it. Have a great day and keep the piece. Renée

I'M GONNA BE A GRANDMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-07-30T20:47:00.002-04:00

Hi All,

I AM DOING THE HAPPY, HAPPY DANCE!!!!!! When I arrived in New York on Thursday night and I walked into the room that Ally and Alex had set up for me, propped up on the pillows of the bed was a Grandma's Brag Book. So of course I screamed and then turned and hugged Ally very hard and didn't let her go for quite a while. She and Alex and his whole family and all their friends have known for quite some time, but she wanted to tell me in person and as I was scheduled to be in New York, she waited for me to come up. So, this time next year, I'll be a Grandma. Ally is due at the end of January, 2009. Inside the brag book was a sonogram of the baby. First sonogram of a baby that I could actually tell it was a baby, without arrows pointing at things. When Ally has her sonogram in September, we will know what we are having, boy or girl. So we will know if Dylan or Ursula Georgina is coming into the world. So, can you all guess what I'm doing? Making baby quilts, of course. I have so many, Ally is going to kill me. I guess I'll just have to make them and then just send them once a month, hehehe. If I could afford it and stand the cold, I would move back to NY in a NY minute. Okay, that's it for now. I'm off to the sewing machine. Keep the piece. Renée

Very Sad News

2008-07-12T17:07:00.002-04:00

I received a call from my very good friend who informed me that she has uterine cancer. I'm very upset. She's up in NY and I'm down here in Florida and I can't help her. I'll be up in NY on the 24th, but I think she will have had the operation by then. She told me that if she could she would have it today. Ugh, yuck, ick. F...

It is thundering here, so I guess that's why I have a headache. I'm going to lie down. Keep the piece.

It's Been So Long

2008-07-08T15:47:00.004-04:00

Block #9
Block #10
Block #11

Hi Everyone, I'm back. Sort of. I realized it's been a while since I posted anything. I have not been in a quilty mood. Today I finally put together blocks number 9, 10 and 11 for the Star Quilt Along on Amandajean's web page. As you can see, for #11 I did it the way they gave directions on the Quilters Cache page. And what is it about that scant 1/4"? Why can't they just give directions using the regular 1/4"? Most, if not all, of the Quilter's Cache block patterns use that scant quarter. I don't listen. I use a regular quarter. Tomorrow I will cut up fabric for the sashing and see about putting the borders together for Amandajean's first quilt along. I did that one too. The purple star blocks are the second quilt along, the pink blocks are the first.

I just finished my first block swap. That was fun. I was finally picked this month, so I am receiving blocks. I sent out all my blocks to all the lovely ladies in the swap. I was on a roll and just did them all at once. They were Friendship Blocks, also from Quilter's Cache. And of course, the Snowball Swap. The second batch is finished and I go off to the Post Office tomorrow to get them out. I put "fabric" on the envelope in hopes that they don't think there is anything valuable inside. The last batch I sent, I sent fabric pinned to the block, you know, "keep the piece", and maybe someone thought there was something valuable attached. Anyway, nothing attached this time. I also put my name labels all over the plastic bag so if the envelope does get ripped open, at least I might get my blocks back. Time to get back to cutting more fabric. Keep the piece. Renée

Blocks Lost In The Mail

2008-06-26T18:27:00.002-04:00

Just another thought. I am a member of Eons.com. For all you youngsters, it is a group for all us people over 50. Anyway, within that group is a quilters group and I joined that. They decided to do a Friendship Block swap using snowball blocks with 30's fabric in the corners. I think I would have rather done the Friendship Star block, but that was what they decided on so off I went to find some 30's fabric and some unbleached muslin. No muslin, so off to the LQS I went and spent a weekend making the blocks and signing them. I even bought some fabric pens just for this undertaking. Well, after finishing them, I got my Priority Mail envelops together. We had to send a SASE with our blocks so the coordinator can send blocks back to us. Anyway, I spent almost an hour at the Post Office last week and sent everything out. Last Thursday I got an e mail from the coordinator telling me that the envelop was ripped in the back and the only thing in the envelop was my return envelop to her. All my blocks were lost. Now I need to do 30 more blocks. Yucky. I've got half of them done. I'll spend Sunday doing the other 15 and then I'll spend Monday back at the post office. Thank goodness there are some other ladies who haven't sent in their blocks yet, so no one is really waiting on me. We were supposed to have 30 blocks done and sent by the end of May and here it is almost the end of June and some of the ladies haven't even started. At least they know that I sent mine, even tho they were lost. Okay, just want to get that off my chest. We pay so much for stamps and services from the Post Office and they can't even take care of our envelops. I guess they don't care how they treat our packages, they just care about the paycheck at the end of the week. And to think that every time we buy stamps, it might be going into someones paycheck. You would think they would care about that more. Now I'm really going to bed. Take care. Renée

Number 80

2008-06-26T18:02:00.002-04:00

Hi,

Camera is broke. It dropped on the wood floor and the tab that covers the batteries cracked in half and now I have to tape it shut in order for it to work. Pain in the tush. I'm hoping to talk some relatives into buying me a new one for my birthday (in September). We shall see.

Tomorrow I go for a pedicure. Sheer heaven. After the pedi I go up to the Long Armer. I have two or three quilts to be quilted. One is a gift (first CC) and the other two could be one gift or two. It's the same quilt, I'm toying with using it as a reversible, or not. I'll wait and see what Cathy says when I get them to her. If she says no problem doing the quilting as a reversible, then a reversible it shall be. Saves on backing. Saturday is my tee shirt quilt class. Ally (my daughter) sent me the tee shirts she wanted to use in the quilt. She sent down 11. I think I'm not going to use that many. She sent one shirt that was navy, one shirt that was sort of a browny green, two that are black and the rest are white. I'm going to use just the black and white ones. I added a couple of mine, but she didn't go to those concerts, so she really doesn't want them in her quilt. I'll do my best with what I have and if I need to, I'll use the front and backs of the shirts. Jeff, the teacher, said we can do that and it will also make the quilt a bit bigger. So, it will either have nine, 12, 15 or 18 blocks. If I need to stretch it, I may be able to squeeze a few more blocks out of those shirts. The squares are 12 1/2 x 12 1/2 and the logos are so much bigger than that. So I'm going to have to cut some of them in half. If that happens, I will have double the amount of squares and I will be able to make the quilt bigger. I really don't think nine squares is big enough. We'll see. And I will take pictures. I might even take the camera, taped up and all, with me to class.

As I'm eating dinner, I've been going around the ring. When I got to mine, I realized that I haven't been here for a while. And I also got some comments on that fact. Sent off an e mail to Amanda, thanks for caring and now I'm letting you all know what's been happening.

I tried my hand in doing a really small (5" x 7") quilt project for another one of my groups. Thanks goodness only two other ladies decided to participate in this, so I only made two. First real project using appliqué and quilting. Although I didn't bind them. When I received one of the other participants quilt I realized that it wasn't bound, I decided not to bind mine either. I just can't figure out how to do it and I can't hand sew it down either. I just hope they like what I did. I'm a piecer, not an artist. These women do all sorts of fabric art stuff and they seem to have a more creative mind than I do, so I did my best at least.

I have a headache, I'm going to bed now. I'll be back either later tomorrow or not until Saturday night or Sunday morning. Have a wonderful weekend and do lots of quilty stuff. Renée

Megan's 100K Post/Binding Help, Please

2008-06-17T12:05:00.004-04:00

Hi All,

It seems that Megan has reached her 100,000 blog posting. She has decided to give away a really cute little quilt. Go on over to http://growingnotes.blogspot.com and leave a comment and you might get picked to win that little quilt.

Okay, I have a problem. I just made a cute little, teeny, tiny quilt. It is 5" x 7". I even put on appliqué. I've even quilted it. Now comes the binding. I've read and reread and reread Bonnie's tutorial on binding and I quite liked it. The only problem, I'm really binding challenged. I don't understand. I've never quilted and then bound anything, so I am really challenged here. Does anyone know about a YouTube tutorial on binding that is out there? I need step by step instructions that I can see. Somehow or other, when it is written down, I don't seem to get it. I would greatly appreciate any help. Thanks everyone. Keep the piece. Renée

Question for all you nice Visitors

2008-06-10T19:00:00.003-04:00

Hi All You Nice People,

My question to you is this: What is the etiquette in answering comments left on a blog? Does one have to respond to a comment? Would it be presumptuous of me to ask people to leave their e mail address when they leave a comment? If I had an e mail address and/or a blog address, I could respond to the comment. I try to spend my Sunday's reading the blogs on the Quiltville Blogring and I leave my comments every now and then. But, come to think of it, only a few have replied to my comments, but I do know that I read every one. And, I enjoy knowing that there are people out there, who I don't know, who are reading my blog. I have met some really great people through this blogging thing, from all over the world and I find it a great way to meet others. I just don't know what the "rules" are for this blogging or if there are any. Okay, that's it from me, just wanted to know so I don't hurt anyone's feelings. I am also taking this time to thank each and every person who has been by my blog and left a comment. Keep the piece, Renée

FINALLY - CC with Borders

2008-06-10T15:12:00.002-04:00

Well, here she is all laid out on top of the backing fabric. Worked on it this morning and afternoon and finally put the last border on a little while ago. Now she is ready to go to the Long Armer. I'm off to try to finish the borders for the Pink Grapefruit Crush quilt that I'm working on. Have a great day everyone. Keep the piece. Renée

Pink Grapefruit Crush

2008-06-05T15:11:00.003-04:00

Well, here it is laid out on the bed. And you know what? I'm leaving it just the way it is. I did have to move some of the stars to make the four patches go across the quilt, but other than that, I'm leaving it. I hope to get this sewn together by tonight and maybe I'll do some borders tomorrow. I'm thinking maybe a strip of orange before the pieced border, but we'll see. Keep the piece. Renée

Orange Crush/Pink Grapefruit Crush

2008-06-04T15:21:00.002-04:00

I really don't know how I did it, but I managed to get the logo onto my blog. I wish I could get my signature on as easily. Now onto putting the Pink Grapefruit Crush together. Keep the piece. Renée

What was I thinking?

2008-06-03T00:21:00.002-04:00

I decided to take a class with Quilt University, its an online class. The class is called "Jane Was Nuts". Its a take off of the Dear Jane quilt. The instructor is Carol Miller and we have people from all over taking the class. I must say, this is my second or third class with them and the last one I took had so many people in it that I couldn't keep up with the discussions in the discussion room. This time there aren't as many and the people aren't chatty. I've done six blocks and the blocks are four and one half inches big. My fingers hurt. Tomorrow I'm going back to the tumbling blocks. Just wanted to finish these small blocks and now I'm going to bed. Good night and keep the piece. Renée

Week 6 - Quilt Along Photos

2008-06-02T15:07:00.002-04:00

Well, it's week 6 already. It's been going by very fast. This block was quick and easy to piece. Maybe I'm just getting better. Don't know. I received my current issue of Quilter's World and on page 80 is a pattern for a elongated tumbling block. I've always wanted to do a tumbling block quilt, but they seemed
too intimidating to me. This one is easy peasy. I'll post some pics later on. I'm just wondering, the pattern says that the block is 6" x 6". Does that mean finished, in the quilt, or unfinished, still a block? I've always wondered about that and it makes it difficult for me to square up a block. The quilt in the magazine is using red, blue, brown and green colors. I'm using pink, purple, brown and green. I'm using fabric from my stash and I haven't even put a dent in it. Oh, well. I have four 4" binders filled with patterns that I can make, so I'm not worried. Going back to my piecing. Have a good day. Keep the piece. Renée

Star Quilt Along - Week Five

2008-05-28T11:44:00.003-04:00

Well here they are. The last three blocks for the star quilt along, along with the blocks for the first quilt along. I'm doing this as a reversable quilt, one on each side, back and front whatever you want to call it. I've been leader/endering the pink squares for the borders on the pink quilt and I am almost done putting them together. I think I will just do a two row border around the quilt and a fabric border around that. I'll see what happens when I finally put them together. Now I have to go and put together a teeny tiny quilt for a swap with another group that I'm with. Keep the piece. Renée

No New Job, Yeah!!!

2008-05-27T11:00:00.002-04:00

Okay, here's the deal. I didn't have any idea what this job was about. My Mom's friends' daughter works there and she mentioned that they were looking for people, but she never did say what they did. It seems that this company "sells" enrollments into a program for diabetics and people who have respiratory problems. There is no money involved, insurance, Medicaid/Medicare would take care of it. But you have to get people to trust you enough to give you their Social Security numbers. I know I would NEVER give out my SS # over the phone, not EVER. So this is a really hard job. And to tell you the truth, I am not good on the phone. As a matter of fact, I HATE it. It's one thing to call someone who is expecting you to call and its a whole other thing to call someone cold. Not my cup of tea.

Now to get back to quilty things. Thanks so much for the comments about my blocks. I sometimes wonder about my color combo's, but then I try to "hear" Bonnie talking about how it doesn't matter, its my quilt and I can do what I want. I was tempted to use a different, brighter green, but then I decided that those oranges are so bright that I would just overload the quilt with brightness, so I stayed with my first choice. I also have started a Blue Ridge Beauty, and am now using it as a leader/ender. All the pieces are cut, now it is just how long it will take for me to sew them all up and then together. I do have the pattern from the magazine, but I really don't want to make it as big as it is there, and they do have directions for smaller ones, but all they tell you is how much fabric you need and how many blocks, not how many pieces. So I will sew up what the directions say, and then when I go to put it together, I'll only do it for a smaller one. Maybe I can get two out of it instead of only one.

For all of you guys on the other side of the pond who were curious about our election process, all the pundits are saying that this primary process is going to be over by the middle of June and then the Democratic Party candidate will be decided at the Convention to be held in August in Denver. But with all that, I am pretty confident that I can say that Barack Obama will be the Democratic Presidential Candidate and he will start the main campaign before August, as he needs to do as Mr. McBush, oh, sorry, McCain, has been campaigning for a long while.

Now I am going to get back to my piecing, which is a whole lot more fun than working. Keep the piece. Renée

New Job, UGH!

2008-05-26T22:28:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow I start a new job. It is up in Boca Raton, which is north of where I live. Now that gas is up to $4 a gallon, I don't know if I am going to be able to afford to take the job. If all the money is going into the gas tank, and not into my fabric stash, then why should I take it? I guess I'll find out more tomorrow.

I finished clue #5 of Bonnie's Orange Crush (Pink Grapefruit Crush for me). I was furiously piecing all day today and finally finished the last of the 4 corners a little while ago. I've posted pictures, they are probably up on top. The album blocks are 5 different oranges, but the rest of the triangle blocks all have the same orange fabric in them. I have some of the step 2 blocks left over. Some of the ladies in the group were saying that they did too. We are wondering if Bonnie is going to use them in something else. I guess we will have to wait for the next clue.

I've also cut up some blue and cream fabric to make the Blue Ridge Beauty that everyone has been talking about. I've been doing it as a leader/ender and I have quite a ways to go. But I do find that the leader/ender method sure does keep the waste of thread down to a minimum. I love it.

Going to bed now. If I don't post in a while, it's because it did pay for me to take the job and I'm too tired to type. Have a wonderful week and keep the piece. Renée

Rally in Sunrise

2008-05-23T23:06:00.003-04:00

Yes, I was one of 16,000 who showed up on a very rainy Friday afternoon to see and hear a Presidential candidate. Very exciting, but I think Mr. Obama was very tired. Actually, now I can't wait for January for all of this to be over. And we were sitting so far away, that in order to see him, we had to look at the Jumbotron. Going to bed now. Have a great Memorial Day weekend everyone. Keep the piece. Renée

T-Shirt Quilt

2008-05-21T23:33:00.002-04:00

This is the class example of the T-shirt quilt that I am going to be making for Ally at the end of June. She hasn't sent me her shirts yet, but there is still time. Another black and white quilt for her. Been busy going to quilt classes, have another one tomorrow and then a rally on Friday. My first rally. Exciting. Hopefully I'll have some pictures to post Friday night. Take care and keep the piece. Good night. Renée

Four New Finished Quilts

2008-05-17T15:43:00.004-04:00

I really can't stand the fact that I cannot figure out how to get my pictures where I want them. So I will try to let you know what all these pictures are. The Winnie the Pooh up there is the back of a baby quilt for Ally's friends Louise and Matt who are expecting their first child in June.

This is a quilt for the great grandson of the couple who clean our house. Believe it or not, it is the same pattern as the Pooh quilt, only this one has the name of the child on the left side, Dylan, and then the rest of the quilt.
This is the back of the Dylan quilt. It is white letters on green fabric.

This is a quilt that I made with the Moda fabric called Cornucopia. It is for my cousins who have just moved down here to Florida.
This is the back of my cousins quilt. I just love this fabric and I am so glad that I have some left over to use in a quilt that I will eventually make for myself.
This is a Baby Genius quilt for my nephew Ben. He was born in January.
This is the back of the Baby Genius quilt. I had four fat quarters left and all these squares left over, so because I didn't have anything else, I just sewed them all together and created the back.
This is the front of the Pooh quilt for Louise and Matt. I think they are having a boy and his name is going to be Gavin, but don't quote me. Trying to remember all the things that Ally tells me is quite hard.

I signed up to take a T-Shirt quilt class and I am waiting for Ally to send me the t-shirts that she wants me to use for the quilt. Yes, I am making this one for her. I was over at the LQS that is giving the class and I was going to get some of the stuff that I needed for the class, but they told me to wait, so I'm waiting. I also found out that the class is at the end of June not the beginning, so if Ally didn't send me the shirts yet, she has time. I also signed up for two other classes, a machine quilting class and a machine applique class, and I am going to use my Bernina for these classes. So, instead of taking those Mastery classes, I'll just take all these kind of classes. I really just want to learn how to use the Bernina to do quilting stuff, I don't really want to learn how to put in a zipper, cause I don't make clothes, I want to learn how to use the Bernina to make and finish quilts. I guess I will now. Can't wait. Keep the piece. Renée

Quilting Class Question

2008-05-17T15:06:00.003-04:00

I'm going to post two different postings. This one will not have any pictures. Most of you will remember my excitment of buying a new Bernina Aurora 430. Most of the LQS who sell the Bernina machines also include a Mastery class. This class instructs you on how to use your new machine. Now, because there are so many things that this machine can do, these classes last about a month and meet once a week. Besides teaching you how to use your machine, they are hoping that you will also buy all the feet, thread and other classes that you might need from their store. I understand that. I have no problem whatsoever with this. But when I sign up for classes and I am charged $200 and I pay the $200, when I don't show up for the first class, for whatever the reason, I would expect a phone call to gently remind me that I have a class, I might have forgotten. I especially would like a phone call when everyone there at the store, especially the woman who is teaching the class and who signed me up, knew how excited I was to finally get this sewing machine. Even though I did not expend the big money for the sewing machine from their shop, I am expending big money to take these classes from their shop. Am I asking too much for the instructor to ask someone else who is working in the store to please call the people who have not showed up to remind them about the class? Is this too much to expect? I would like to know. As a consumer, I would think that in this cottage industry, you would like to hold on to the customers you have in hope that they bring in new customers or keep on buying from your store. Am I wrong? I took another class yesterday and the instructor called me Thursday to remind me. And it was a really good thing that she did because when I signed up, they didn't know when they were going to give the class. So I didn't know that the class was going to be on Friday the 16th. When the instructor called to tell me about the class, I was able to ask her what I needed to bring, etc. I was very happy to receive that call and I was very happy to take that class and I did buy other stuff from the store while I was there. Including another foot for the sewing machine that I needed to take the class. Anyway, I went in today and since the next set of classes aren't going to start until August, I asked for my money back. And then the instructor tried to guilt me that she could have sold me the machine and not told me about the other woman selling her machine. And yes, she could have done that. And she could have called me to remind me about the class. So, I do not feel guilty and now I have my money back. Keep the piece. Renée

Mother's Day Fruit Bouquet

2008-05-08T20:23:00.002-04:00

My darling daughter and her husband sent my Mom and I a very beautiful edible bouquet basket of fruit. Stupid me did not take a photo of it. It was pineapple flowers with a canteloupe center, grapes on a stick and chocolate covered strawberries. We were so excited about eating the fruit that I just took the whole thing apart and then said, shoot, I should have taken a picture. Anyway, I didn't and it was really lovely and I sent her an e mail and I thanked her profusely and then told her that for my birthday I would really prefer to have a gift certificate to one of the local quilt shops, lol. She was a good sport about it and thanked me for telling her so far in advance (4 months). So, hopefully, for my b-day, I will have a gift certificate to one of the LQS. So I'm doing Amandajean's star quilt along and today or was it yesterday (?) she put up the directions for the filler blocks. Today I cut them up and now I am sewing them together. Scrappy, can't get away from scrappy. Bonnie influence. Did you see her (Bonnie's) studio? She took pictures and its up on her blog. Quite a room. Lovely, beautiful and I wish I had that space to do that. Oh, well. Going to bed now, for some reason I am very tired today. Yankees won. Keep the piece. Renée

Unbelieveable

2008-05-07T16:12:00.003-04:00

Okay, this is going to sound really crazy. My aunt gave me a gift certificate to Macy's. Because I really don't like going to the mall, I've been putting off going for a really long time. Today I went. I walked around and around and around and believe it or not, could not find anything to buy. First I looked at bras, I could use some new ones. Didn't think $30 was reasonable for a bra, should be less, so did not buy. Then I went over to the shoes. Now, this should be a cinch, I love shoes. Nope, not a one that I felt like buying. From the shoes I moved over to the handbags. Okay, now we're cooking with gas. Around and around I went, nope, nada, nothing. Then I went over to the clothes. This shouldn't be too hard. Again, nothing. So, since I was having such wonderful luck finding something to buy, I left and went home. Now, if it was a fabric shop that I was in instead, I wouldn't have had a problem in finding something to buy. I would probably be putting stuff back because it would be too much. So that's it. Now I have a headache and I'm going to lie (lay, whichever) down for a while. Maybe I should eat something. Keep the piece.

Photo experiment

2008-05-06T13:44:00.003-04:00

I love looking at other people's blogs. Gives me ideas for mine. I saw that someone was taking pictures with their block on a skirt hanger. Someone else had their block on a tile floor. Lovely. But the hanger gave me an idea. Maybe it would be easier to take a picture if the block was hanging instead of laying down on a table. So this is my experiment with hanging the block up. I think it looks better this way. Please, leave your comments. This blogging stuff is very new to me and I really haven't gotten the hang of it yet. I still would like to figure out how to move the photos around so they aren't always on top. BTW, that's week three of the first quilt along with Amandajean. That's it for now. Keep the piece.

Week 2 of Quilt Along

2008-05-06T12:48:00.003-04:00

Week Two of the Quilt Along and I finished my star block. These are the week two blocks for both quilts. I think I might do a reversable quilt, seeing these are my colors. We'll see how the star quilt comes along. That's it for now. Keep the piece.

New Projects

2008-05-06T11:40:00.002-04:00

Week One of the Quilt Along with Amandajean. Of course, I am doing it backwards. Amandajean is doing her stars in pink and I am doing them in purple and I did my first quilt along in pink and white. I have all my first quilt along blocks finished, but I will post them along with the star blocks. I had some blocks in pink and white already finished, so I'm going to use those blocks instead of the ones that Amandajean picked out to do.

The Everglades are burning again. What a horrible smell outside. Seems there was a thunder storm last night and there must have been lightening and that sparked a fire. They are saying that if you have breathing problems, you should not go out, that's how bad it is. I was out for less than a minute and my eyes are still stinging.

Going to do the second star block now. Have a wonderful day and keep the piece.

Stuff I found in the boxes

2008-05-05T14:31:00.003-04:00

So, I spent part of the weekend looking through the stuff in the boxes from the POD. Found some needlepoint canvas' that I thought I would do, but now I can't. Offered them to some friends and waiting to hear back on what they want. I also found this sign. Don't remember where I got it, but there it was in one of the boxes in amongst a pile of some stuff. Since you really can't see what it says I'll tell ya. "SYMPTOMS - Continual complaint as to need for snuggling under a handmade quilt. Patient has bland expression, sometimes deaf to spouse and kids. Has no taste for bedspreads or electric blankets. Hangs out at Quilting Bees. Mumbles to self "Log Cabin", "Double Wedding Ring", "Ohio Rose". NO KNOWN CURE. TREATMENT - Medication is useless, Disease is Not Fatal. Victim should attend as many Quilt Shows and Quilt Shops as possible." Now that I've read the bottom of the sign, it is from Calico Square, Inc. in Sea Cliff, NY. Not too sure if that store is still there or not.

I also have two full legal sized boxes of fabric. Lots and lots of florals. And there was one box that still had fabric medleys (fat quarters)in the plastic bags from Keepsake Quilting. Here is a list of those:

Dogwood Blossom; Happy Hanukkah; Tone on Tone; The Jinny Beyer Anniversary Collection; Cozy Cottons; Vintage and Vogue; April Showers; The Calico Collection; Radiant Red (ugh); Victorian Charm; Circus Clowns; Country Store Colors; Country Estate Elegance; Floral Scrap Bag; Novelty Nostalgia; Verandah Medley; Summer Refresher and Fall Reflections.

I was able to put some into my QOV stash; my ugly swap stash; and the rest are still in two boxes for me to go thru and separate into where I want to put them. I've used some of the more pink florals to make the 2.5" squares that I need for the border on Amandajean's first quilt along quilt. I've cut them all out and now I've been sewing them together. If I had looked at this part of the quilt first, I could have been doing leaders/enders all the while, oh well.

Guess I'll just mosey on over to those boxes now and do some sorting. But I'll tell you, the fabric now is so much better. In terms of the fabric itself and the patterns and the colors. This should be quite a chore. I'm going in. Keep the piece.

Quilt Along

2008-05-03T21:37:00.002-04:00

Spent all day yesterday and all day today doing the first quilt along quilt on Amandjean's site. What fun. After going to get boxes of fabric out of the POD yesterday, I came home and it was like a really special birthday. I have eight boxes of fabric stored, but I could only get to two, so I'm not that inundated with fabric. I'm not going to be able to get to those other boxes until I move the POD to the other storage facility and empty the POD. The boxes are in the back and I can't get to them. I'm feeling it today, my shoulders and arms are killing me. Anyway, I've completed the 12 blocks and now I am getting ready to do the borders. I'm using some of the "new" fabric and there sure are lots of florals. And some really fuglies. I've cut up lots of 2.5" squares and now I'm sorting them into light and dark so I can put them in a bag and then pull. I love doing it that way. Maybe I'll leave that for tomorrow and go take a pain pill and go to bed. Yeah, that sounds good. So, good night and keep the piece.

Quilt Along

2008-05-01T16:24:00.003-04:00

Okay, call me crazy. I have started two, yes, two new quilts. I found a new blog and Amandajean has a quilt along. I guess it goes on for 12 weeks. She already did one and I have started that one, using pink and white and the new one is a star quilt and I am going to use purple and parchment. I ordered the fabric from Joann's. Yes, I know. But it was recommended and I read the description and it doesn't seem to be thin, so it will work. I will post some photos as soon as I finish some of the blocks. Keep the piece.

QOV Mystery #13 - Radiant

2008-05-01T10:51:00.005-04:00

This is what I have been doing in between clues from the Pink Grapefruit Crush quilt. Lots of fun making the letters. Doing it in black and white. Haven't decided yet what other colors to add to this. Maybe the star points will be in all different colors, haven't decided yet.

So, I finally finished Radiant. What a really beautiful quilt design. Now I need to find out how to get this to one of our hero's. I will go back to the group and look at the files and find out what I need to do to get this to a Long Arm Quilter. Maybe I'll just keep it and do it myself with my new Bernina with BSR. OOOOO, that feels so wonderful. MY NEW BERNINA w/BSR. Mine, mine, mine. LOL.

Going back to making the rest of the letters and then deciding what else to do with the rest of the alphabet quilt. Keep the piece.

Clue #3 - Pink Grapefruit Quilt

2008-04-28T10:38:00.004-04:00

Here are my cute little half split 4 patches. Three of them anyway, actually four, but you can't see the fourth one. I have cut them all out, but I have decided not to sew them together until I see what other people have done, or hear of any problems. Maybe I'll just sew one set of mirror image ones, but since I do have other stuff to do, I can wait. Bonnie won't be back for a while and I think she said that the clues will be about two weeks apart, which is good. I just dislike unsewing. That's it for now. Keep the piece.

Quilt University

2008-04-26T14:03:00.002-04:00

Oh, I almost forgot. I signed up for a Dear Baby Jane Crazy Nut or something like that class on Quilt U. It starts at the end of May and I'm hoping to learn how to do those scary applique blocks cause I would really like to do the WHOLE quilt, with all the 242 or how very many blocks were used in the original. I have one block done, lol. My next purchase for this computer will be an all in one printer, scan, fax, copy and print. I have to ask my DSIL which one he thinks is the best. I consider him my computer maven. Okay, that's it for now. Was looking for Amanda but I have lost patience with the surfing the ring and have decided to go back to sewing my Radiant QOV Mystery Quilt. Keep the piece.

Was gonna upload photo, but...

2008-04-26T13:49:00.003-04:00

I was gonna upload a photo of my latest FINISHED quilt, but I have entered it into a contest on one of my groups, so I won't even describe it so that no one will know that its from me. I am in the process of sewing together the Radiant quilt from the QOV mystery group. I would really like to finish this one as the next one is starting next week. That's what I have so far, up there. Two rows together and two rows yet to go. I'm going back in to finish before the Yankee game starts. Keep the piece.

Picked It UP

2008-04-22T20:56:00.003-04:00

Okay, so I have been very busy cooking and cleaning and not sewing. I made 6 loaves of mandelbread, 6 loaves of mock kishka, one pound of chopped liver, 4 jars of gefilte fish, and 3 cups of matzo balls. Oh, and I also made a roast beef and some candied yams. I am so full, I don't think I want to eat for a while, lol. That was Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Monday I finally went up to Boynton Beach and picked up my Bernina. That's it up there. While I was up North, I went to a new quilt shop, My Quilt Shoppe. Very lovely store and very nice women running it. They were so helpful with me. I wound up buying some more fabric, what else is new.

Today I took my friend to the airport. She is flying back to Staten Island. I will miss her. I also went to the Post Office and finally mailed out my entrance fee into the Stash Quilt Challenge. I need to go back to the PO tomorrow because I have a package for Bonnie.

I also was able to finish my clue #2 for my Pink Grapefruit Crush quilt. Photo under the Bernina. Now we wait for the next clue. Can't wait. In the meantime, I am going to finish the 30 snowball blocks for a friendship quilt through Eons, I have 5 done. And I am going to do Tanya's alphabet from Bonnie's Quiltville site. I bought an Alphabet Soup Quilt pattern, but it was with pastel fabrics. Since I don't know what the sex of the baby is, don't know if there is a baby yet either, I have decided to do the quilt in black and white. So my letters are going to be black with white dots, stars, etc. and the background is going to be white. I've pieced the letter "T" and when I finish the rest of the snowball blocks, I will finish these blocks. And I have also signed up to take two quilts courses. One of them is the classes that you get to take when you buy the Bernina and the other is a class on machine quilting without the Bernina's BSR. I haven't taken the Bernina out of the case yet, I don't want to play until I know how to.

I just put a load of clothes into the washer, and I am going to bed in a few. Have a good evening and keep the piece.

I've Been Tagged

2008-04-17T23:01:00.003-04:00

I've been tagged by Candace to give you 7 Random or Weird facts about me

Here are the RULES:
1. Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you
2. Post the RULES on your blog
3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog
4. Tag 7 people and link to them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged

Here are 7 Weird or Random Facts About Me:

1. My Great Grandmother, My Father and I all share the same birthday. Can you guess? 9/29

2. I have one terrific child, daughter Allyson (they broke the mold when they made her). She married last May and now they are trying to have a baby. So I might become a Grandma soon.

3. I'm a New York Sports Fan (Yankees, Mets, Islanders, Jets, Giants). I will never, ever root for the Dolphins.

4. I love KOALAS. I have a collection of stuffed Koalas that number in the 100's. I have crystal ones too.

5. I buy way too much fabric. I went to the quilt store today and I bought four fabrics off the bolt and all the rest was little bit left. Before I knew it, it was $300 later. But I got some great fabric.

6. I would love to go back to school and become an attorney. I graduated in 1997 with an Associates Degree and I'm still waiting for my diploma. For some reason, here in Florida, you need the diploma to get into the State colleges. So I have been calling my alma mater for the past three years trying to get it. I will call one more time and then I call an attorney (Allyson works for one).

7. I miss my husband. He passed away in 1992 at the age of 43 and I just miss him.

http://wraggedypatches.blogspot.com/

That's the link back to Candace. Now I have to find 7 people to tag. Watch out girls, here I come. Ollie Ollie Oxen Free.

So far I have tagged:

Jay - http://quiltygirl.blogspot.com
Julie - http://golbseiluj.blogspot.com
Jeanne - http://luv2stitch.blogspot.com - lucky girl is going to Paducah
Tracey - http://quiltinginct.blogspot.com
Ursula - http://love4meninuniform.blogspot.com

I've tagged one other person who has decided not to play which is absolutely okay. I have decided not to tag anyone else. I have also decided that this is the first and last time that I partake in the fun. I put aside a few minutes in the morning and a few at night to do the blog thing and I don't know enough people well enough to "tag" them. There's just not enough time in the day for me to do this blog thing and do the piecing, which I like to do more. I am now going back to sewing up those clue 2 pesky little triangle four squares for the Pink Grapefruit Crush. Keep the piece.

Another Bonnie Thought

2008-04-16T08:42:00.001-04:00

Geez, after all the past bruhaha, maybe Bonnie shouldn't put up on her site all that stuff about the recycling. With self publishing, someone could just change a word or two and make the idea their own. Just a thought. Keep the piece.

Organization Continued

2008-04-16T08:27:00.003-04:00

Ithought that maybe you all were ready to see how I've progressed in this "Scrap User's System". Here are some pictures to show how I'm getting along. I've already cut up the black/white, yellow, some red. All the orange scraps I stuck in a plastic bag and put it with my Pink Grapefruit Crush fabrics. And I am sitting here very impatiently waiting for the next clue.

So while I am tapping my foot with my hand on my hip, I will continue to cut up the strips and put them in my strip piles. As soon as I empty another bin, I can add the strips to the bin. Going to check to see if clue 2 is up yet. Keep the piece.

FINALLY GOT MY BERNINA

2008-04-15T16:44:00.003-04:00

Well I did it. I finally got my Bernina. I went into my LQS and asked them what machine I could get with BSR that cost $3500. They told me the Aurora 330, bottom of the rung of Berninas. But I said okay, sign me up and then she told me that they sold a top of the line Bernina last week and the woman was looking to sell her Aurora 330 with BSR and I said OMG, someone is smiling down on me. Janine called Gloria and left a message with my phone numbers and while I was still in the store, Gloria called and she told me the price and I said "SOLD". So Monday I go and pick up my old/new Bernina with BSR (its only one year old). Then in May I can take the classes at the LQS and learn how to use the BSR and then I can QUILT my own quilts. Renée is doing the happy, happy, happy dance. WOOHOO. Keep the piece.

Bonnie

2008-04-15T11:41:00.003-04:00

I just read Bonnie's blog. This Donna Slater person is a real winner. If she had just gotten back to Bonnie when Bonnie contacted her, this wouldn't have happened. Now she's on her high horse, thinking she is better than Bonnie and throwing out lawsuits and all that. Well, gee. Who died and made her quilt god? She must be one of the only quilters with this attitude. I've thought that quilters by and large are a very congeniel group, cooperative, friendly etc. I guess that does not apply to her. If you haven't read Bonnie's blog, I think you all should. Take a very good look at the photo's Bonnie has posted. Try to see the differences in the quilts besides the fabric. There really isn't any. And also try to read with the sarcasim inflection. It really works. Bonnie has been up front from the beginning and she puts her patterns out there for all to see, without charge. I guess money is the root of all evil and the prospect of a lot of it makes people evil. Just my two cents. Keep the piece.

Organization Continued

2008-04-15T09:43:00.002-04:00

I have downloaded Bonnie's "Scrap User's System" and after reading it have decided that I need to modify. I know that Bonnie said that any strip that is less than 12" she cuts up into squares, but I have so many of them that it would take me from now til never to cut them all up. I have been sewing strips that are as small as 3" to a larger (longer) strip for a very long time and I have not minded. Even though I might only get one subcut from it, it is one subcut that I didn't have before. So, yesterday I finished the yellow bin and now I have started the green bin. As I won't be able to do any more cutting until maybe Friday, I am going to try to get as much done today as I can. I have also decided to keep the neutral/white bin alone. There is way too much fabric strips in there for me to sort through. As I need it I can take it out and do with it what must be done. I will sift through and try to take out the squares and leave the strips in there. I have now taken it upon myself to rename the bins. They are now named as the square size and if I should need squares a particular size, I now can just stick my hand into the bin and grab. Whatever comes out is what I will use. Even though it will take a while to get this done, it will be so much better in the long run. As I get the strips done, I will do the same with them. Anyway, that's it for me for a while, unless I get on here at night. Have a great week and happy clue #2. Keep the piece.

Organization

2008-04-14T13:44:00.003-04:00

This getting the scraps organized is taking so long. Didn't realize that I had so much. Now getting it cut down to size is the task. Everything is separated by color. Now I have to cut down to squares, bricks or strips. I have emptied some of the plastic bins that I had the scraps in and made them into bins holding squares. I've decided to cut up the squares first, so I have plastic bins for 1 1/2", 2", 2 1/2", 3 1/2, 4", 4 1/2" and 5" squares. I am doing one color at a time. Hopefully I will have this done before Bonnie posts the last clue for the Orange Crush mystery, lol. Keep the piece.

This is harder than I thought

2008-04-13T17:23:00.002-04:00

Organizing scraps is way harder than I thought. Unless I'm just making this neater than it needs to be, it will take me at least another two weeks (one week off for Passover) to get all this done. I've been going through all the bins that I made last week and trying to put together squares and strips in an organized inch basis. So I will eventually end up with a bin of 1 1/2" squares and 1 1/2" strips and on up the ruler. Right now they are mostly in bins assorted by color, which is not bad either, but I hope to have them more organized.

Well, this week I will be going to my sister in laws to help cook for Passover. Hopefully we can have a calm conversation about what happened last week and put an end to this once and for all. Wednesday and Thursday will be spent cooking for the seders and then on Friday, Saturday and Sunday I will be cooking for the dinner at our house for the second night. I will be attending the first seder at my SIL and then dinner at our house for the second. Ally and Alex will be going to my brother's house in Brooklyn for the first night, so everyone will be with family.

Anyway, if you should be checking in this week, I'm sorry I won't be here much. Too many other things to do and not enough time. I'm not even sure I will be around to pick up Bonnie's clue #2 for my Pink Grapefruit Crush. Oh well, maybe there will be another two weeks before she posts the third clue. Have a great week everyone. Keep the piece.

Scraps

2008-04-11T18:14:00.003-04:00

Last night it was green and blue bins. I straightened out the scraps in the bins, took out the "squares" and am now sorting through the squares. I've narrowed them down to 2", 2 1/2", 3", 3 1/2", 4", 5" and 6". I've spent the morning and afternoon cutting down some of the "squares" into the right sizes. Haven't decided yet if I will cut down the 3" squares into 2 or 2 1/2. Depends on which I need more of in the future. The light colored squares on top are the ones that need cutting down. The squares in the bin are already sorted into sizes and ready to be used. Tonight I will take the neutral/white bin and the yellow/organge bin and sort through those. I will take care of the strips at another time. They are neatly stashed in the bins and I can see them all now. I will certainly have plenty of leader/ enders after I do all this. But at least now I can see what I have and maybe look for a pattern on how to use it. Quiltville here I come. Keep the piece.

Stash Busting

2008-04-10T21:08:00.002-04:00

So, I'm reading posts and blogs yesterday and I'm getting some really good ideas. I took my pink and purple bins into the bedroom and picked out the 1 1/2" strips; the 2" strips and some squares of various sizes. Today I went through the black/B&W, gray and brown bins and took out the same sizes of scraps from those bins. I've started to sew together the 2" squares and putting them into a bag so I can pick two out and sew them together. I've already sewed together 140 more 4 patches, some HST's and I'm still going. That leader/ender thing is a blast. I'm using less thread too. I might be able to do something with all these pieces that I'm making with the leader/ender technique. So far they are mostly pink and purple, but that's no problem for me. Most of my fabrics are pink and purple. I'll post some pictures tomorrow as we are watching the Yankee game. Keep the piece.

I Got Bored, So More Four Patches

2008-04-08T16:00:00.004-04:00

While watching the Met/Phillies game, I got bored. I was looking at everyone's four patches for the Crush quilt and realized I could use any fabric, as long as it was dark and light. So, since I had a few strips already sewn together, but not cut up, and I had some 2" strips already cut in my scrap bins, I decided to put them together and make some more four patch units. I'm thinking, maybe I could use them for a border, maybe on a children's quilt. Or maybe this Crush quilt. The weather is really crummy out, looks like it is going to rain, and I don't really feel like doing anything. I finally got all my laundry done, folded and everything. The four patches are what I like to call mindless sewing. I can do it and watch the game at the same time. No real concentration, since the seams just butt up against each other nicely, so sewing them together is no problem. LET'S GO METS! LET'S GO METS! LET'S GO METS! Well, this is nice. Now I can go between channels and watch the Mets and Yankees. Whoppee. Going back to watch now, Keep the piece.

Yes, I am a quitter

2008-04-07T10:47:00.002-04:00

Okay, I will admit that I am a quitter. I have tried and tried and tried again to get those pesky triangle squares to position the right way. For some reason, the picture of them that I put the colors on is different from the next picture. I cannot get the overall pattern to come out right. My hat is off to all the ladies that are finished with clue 1. I have decided to put this away for now, with a note to check the orientation of the blocks, and I will get to it at another time. I am now going to finish my QOV mystery quilt and then I am going to put together a little quilt for a "friend". Talk about lots of little pieces. Some of them are only 1 1/2" square. Hope my fingers can take it. Off I go to the iron. Keep the piece.

Finished Squares for Clue #1

2008-04-06T22:15:00.003-04:00

I finished sewing together the 6 squares for the middle portion of the webequilt mystery #4. I'm too tired to put them all together, especially since it took three tries to get to the 6 blocks. But, here they are. That's a really dark purple, not black. Okay, it's to the bed I go. Until tomorrow and another clue.

Webring

2008-04-06T21:28:00.002-04:00

This webring stuff is hard/easy. It's hard if you don't know what the heck you are doing, but easy once you catch on. And it also helps if you have a web mistress like we do in Quiltville, Tracy, who is a genius. Now that I've got that done, I guess I should go back to doing Clue 1 in the other mystery quilt I'm doing. Thanks again Tracy.

Unsewing - Mystery Quilt

2008-04-06T15:45:00.005-04:00

Okay, so I had to write down on the instructions which color is which because as careful as I thought I was, I still sewed the half square triangles of medium fabric one and dark fabric 2 onto the flying geese unit the wrong way. The top one is wrong, so I am unsewing all the rest so that I can do this the right way.

Well, for the good news, the Yankees won, but the Mets are losing. Going to go watch the end of the Met game while I unsesw those squares. Keep the piece.

Leaders and Enders

2008-04-06T10:50:00.003-04:00

DUH!!!!!!

I have been chain piecing almost as long as I learned to piece on my sewing machine. Okay, its not all that long, but it is at least 5 years. I have read and reread Bonnie K. Hunter's (Quiltville) technique on leaders and enders since this past December. Why is it, that the light just went off in my head to do this? I complain to myself that the fabric keeps getting caught under the needle, or the thread bunches up, whatever, and then the light goes off. I have been trimming flying geese blocks for another mystery quilt that I am doing, and I am saving the triangles that I've cut off. Then I read a post on the Quiltville chat about leaders and enders and I started knocking my head into the monitor. What a freakin' dingbat. Okay, so now I'm going to finish these clues for this mystery and then go through all my bins that I created last weekend and take out all the pieces that could be leaders/enders. I might have myself another whole quilt. Just imagine Renee kicking herself. AAARRRGGGGGHHHH!!

Ponderings

2008-04-04T13:53:00.004-04:00

I am having a bit of trouble adding those funny little boxes to my blog. So I have decided to keep it simple. Less clutter. I am going to see if I can get a Yankee, Met and Jet widget though. Haven't figured out how to do that either. I also just found that I set up another blog site. I am going to take that one down though because this one is so much easier and you all know this one and I don't want to confuse anyone with a different site. Okay, haven't done much quilty stuff yet today. I did cut my 3 7/8" square for the webequilt mystery that starts tomorrow. So I have all my pieces cut. Can't wait for it to begin. I have also taken out some 5" squares and some muslin for a friendship block swap on Eons. I guess that shows my age, lol. And I received a packet of fat quarters from another group for posting the 1,000th post. I found a little quilt in a fat quarter book that I am going to make with the fabric that the moderator/founder of the group sent me and then I am going to send it back to her finished. And I also have to put my QOV Radiant quilt blocks together and put the border on. And I have been downloading some BOM's that I found that I might like to make one day. Tomorrow I am going over to PODS and ask them if they can take my POD down so I can get my fabric out (of course I have to find the key for the lock). I have some very, very serious family stuff going on now. It's a real pity to see how families fall apart. Sometimes I am sad that I only had one child and then when things like this happen, I get glad. What a shame to pit one child against another. Anyway, I am hoping that this straightens out sooner rather than later. I don't think my high blood pressure can take it. Going to put Radiant together now and fold up the laundry. I don't mind sorting the dirty clothes into piles to wash. I don't mind putting the piles into the washing machine and adding the detergent and putting the washing machine on. I don't even mind taking the laundry out of the washing machine and putting it into the dryer. What I do mind is folding the laundry when it is done. I have one laundry basket. It is filled with clean clothes because I don't want to fold them up. I'm going in to fold. Wish me luck.

Scrappy vs Controlled

2008-04-03T14:08:00.003-04:00

As a sort of newbie piecer (I don't know how to "quilt"), I also was trying for that controlled look. And you know, most of those quilt patterns that we see are created for a line of fabric from some fabric line or another. When I started to piece, I joined Keepsake Quilting's Fabric Club and received a set of coordinated fat quarters every month. I created quite a stash with these fabrics (most of it is in storage in eight boxes). Unfortunately, you couldn't make a whole quilt out of those fat quarters, then, you probably can now. Anyway, I always wondered what the heck I was going to do with all those fat quarters and then I discovered Bonnie's site. Her site is the greatest thing to happen to someone who has "stash" but hardly any yardage. What a great way to mix up the fabric. And if you look at some quilts, there are dots next to stripes and florals next to plaids, anything goes. The thing that I have trouble with is deciding what is a medium. I seem to have collected mostly lights, pastels or very darks, not quite that much in between. I am doing another mystery quilt on webequilts and I need yardage for that. I have gone into my stash of backing fabric, the only fabric that I have yardage, and I still don't have enough medium of one color. So I've mixed up a few pinks and we shall see how this turns out. I am not going to fret, because as someone said, I can always donate it. Those are the fabrics up there, I still haven't figured out how to get the photos to be where I want them. Anyway, pink and purple are my two most favorite colors and whatever happens with this quilt, I know that I will like it and put it on my bed. And making it with all the other mystery piecers out there will be fun. I think the most fun is being with all the other quilters as we put these mysteries together. And I like to see if anyone else has done the same thing as I have. That's why I have decided to read the directions very, very carefully, at least twice and do exactly what it says. No shortcuts for me anymore, especially now that Bonnie has given me the confidence to work with triangles. I even bought two new triangle rulers. LOL. Anyway, I must go and cut up the last of the fabric for the second mystery quilt, as this will start on Saturday. Keep the piece.

Opening Day

2008-04-02T10:00:00.003-04:00

Yes, I went to the game with the kids. My nephew was sick, so he couldn't go, but we took his daughter, that's her with my daughter Allyson. The METS WON!!!! It was a good day all around.
The Yankees were rained out so we watched their opening day last night. They won too. Lots of baseball. Ally and Alex bought my Dad the MLB season on Directv, so we get to see ALL the games for ALL the teams. Exciting.

Unfortunately, I haven't quite figured out how to format the pictures on the blog. I guess I need to e mail the blog mistriss for my group and ask her. Anyway, those two pictures on top are the photos of my 4 patches for my Pink Grapefruit Crush quilt for Quiltville. This is the first step of the new mystery. I am now going to cut up the fabric for the mystery quilt I am doing on webequilts. Keep the piece.

My Scrap Stash

2008-03-31T09:42:00.003-04:00

Here is what it now looks like. The scraps are in these plastic bins, all with labels. They are now separated by color. I haven't gotten around to cutting them up like Bonnie of Quiltville does, let's just say that for me doing it this way was just the beginning. But not only did I do the scraps, I have finally sorted my fabric into their own color friendly bins too. So now I have nine (9) bins of fabric. Didn't realize that I had so much, although for some this is just a kick in the bucket. When I get my eight boxes of fabric out of storage, then I will have more. I'm going to do that this week, as I can't wait to see all the fabric that I have forgotten about since they have been in storage so long. I have boxes of books too, but I think they can stay there for now. You know the old saying, if you haven't used or needed it for six months, throw it out. Well, I have a really big problem throwing out books. To me books are sacred, so the quilting books can stay in storage until I can find a home for them. Going for a new cell phone today. Allyson brought down her old one, a Razr, so we are going to switch over to Verizon and then I will have a camera phone. Whoppee. I'll try it out tonight at the ball game and post a picture from the phone later. Of course, because I am going to the game and the kids came down all the way from New York to see it, it looks like it is going to rain. What else is new? This is Florida. LOL! Going now, take care everyone and keep the piece.

Pink Grapefruit Crush

2008-03-30T22:40:00.003-04:00

Finally came up with a name for this quilt. Pink Grapefruit Crush. The pink and the orange are the grapefruit, the brown is the tree and the greens are the leaves. It was one of those ta da moments, better than a senior one I guess. Anyway, what "they" say about the third time being the charm must be true. I just changed out the pink fabric with another mystery that I am doing and this is okay for me. Can't wait to get started. Going to cut up my neutral now so that I will be ready on Tuesday when I get back from dropping the kids at the airport. Can't wait to get back into my bed. And the bathtub is calling my name, really loud. I can hear it from here. Keep the piece.

Change in plans

2008-03-30T14:39:00.002-04:00

Well, it seems like the bbq is off. My nephew has a really bad sinus infection and since he is the one who mans the bbq.....Anyway, the weather is crummy, very cloudy and it has already rained. So the kids have gone to get something to eat and then they are going to visit friends of theirs and then come back here. We still don't know what is going on for dinner later, but since they are eating now, I don't think they are going to be ready for food in another couple of hours. So, hopefully, they will be ready to go out for sushi at around 7 and then we can all go and leave the rest behind. Keep the fingers crossed. Keep the piece.

2008-03-29T18:04:00.003-04:00

Ally and Alex are here. Of course, we stopped to get something to eat and then we came home. Now they have gone out again to do some running around and then they are going to the Hard Rock to celebrate Alex's birthday. Ally brought her Tom Tom with her so that they can get around without asking me how to get anywhere. Ally brought a present for me: a Webkinz Koala. I've adopted him and named him Dusterdoo. That's him up there on top. I love koalas and hope to go to Australia one day and meet one. Tomorrow we go to my nephew's house for a good old fashioned family bar b que and Monday is the Met/Marlin game and then Tuesday they go home. Don't know how my back is going to feel after spending three nights on the sofa. Tuesday night is soaking in the tub night with a glass of wine. That's all for now, keep the piece.

Change of Color for Orange Crush

2008-03-28T16:07:00.004-04:00

Well, since I have cleaned up the den and gone through all my fabric, I have found that I have enough to change out the red for orange in my original fabric choice. So now I can say that I am doing a real orange crush as I will have orange in it. All the other colors remain the same, I just exchanged orange for red. So where Bonnie says orange, I will be doing pink. Maybe not a real orange crush then, maybe pink orange crush, like pink lemonade. Still cleaning up, just have to put the blues and the blacks away in their respective bins and I'll be done. What fun I have had with all this fabric. Next week I am going to go to PODS and take out my eight boxes of fabric that I have had in storage for six years and then wash it all and then have a fabric party. Can't wait. Keep the piece.

Keep forgetting

2008-03-26T13:45:00.002-04:00

I know its been a long time since I've posted. I keep forgetting about this. I'm really new to this blogging stuff and I really must try to remind myself to post.

I'm almost finished with CC#1. I need to cut the borders and sew them on and then take the quilt to the LA. I've finished three baby quilts in the meantime and took them to be quilted, but my LA has just had surgery, so I will try again next week. All are gifts. I've also started a Quilt of Valor mystery quilt. This one is almost done and then the new Orange Crush Mystery Quilt from Quiltville will be starting. Picked my fabrics for that one and hopefully they will look good together. I've also decided to do a sampler quilt with most of my fabrics. I must say, not too bad. It is mostly pink, purple and green with the backgrounds of white, cream and neutral. I'm doing 12" blocks, so I don't know how big this will be. I found a site that has block patterns and I'm going down the list in alphabetical order, doing just the two color blocks. I'm almost done with the B's. This quilt will be for me as I've done all these other quilts and gave them away as gifts. I need to have one on my bed.

My daughter and her husband are coming down to Florida for a few days. They love the New York Mets and the Mets will be opening with the Marlins on Monday here in Florida, so they killed three birds and will be visiting family; going to the Met game and celebrating Alex's birthday. Can't wait to see them. Unfortunately, these trips are too quick and too few between. Don't know when I will see them next.

I've posted some pictures. One is a picture of my fabrics for the Orange Crush Mystery Quilt and the others are some of the blocks for my sampler quilt. Enjoy.

Been busy

2008-03-02T16:01:00.004-05:00

Been a while since I've been here. My grand nephew, photo above, was here to visit. The visit was way too short and now I know why my brother loves this boy so much. This is Asher, the aphabet quilt is his.

What has Renée been up to? Let's see. I finished a backing for a Baby Genius quilt. Now it needs to go to the Long Armer. I finished an All Boxed up quilt for the great grandson of the cleaning people. That's it on top of Asher. I've taken a little creative liberty with it as they wanted his name on it and some Miami Dolphins (yuck!!!!). This too needs to go to the Long Armer and they are in a bag with backing and batting waiting for me to take them. I still have to put the borders on my CC #1 and then that will be ready for the Long Armer too. I made another All Boxed Up quilt for my niece. This one needs the borders too and that one will be ready for the quilter. I really need to learn how to machine quilt on my machine. I think I'm going to go up to my LQS and ask if anyone there will give me some lessons. My LA told me about someone there, so I really think I ought to get my tush up there and check it out. I love my LA, but it is costing a fortune to have all these quilts quilted and I should really do it myself.

I bought the new X Block ruler. My next "new" quilt will be one of those. I also want to try a disappearing nine patch that everyone is talking about. And my other niece wants me to make her a Harley Davidson/Motorcycle quilt. We have some of the fabrics, but now that I have found a pattern that I think she will like, we have to get some fabric.

I have taken out one of my UFO's to finish for my cousin. They moved down here from St. Louis a few years ago and my Mom wants me to make a quilt for them. I'll have to see how this one comes out. If I don't like it, I'll just make them an All Boxed Up quilt as that quilt goes together really fast. I did two of them in one day. Okay, they were the smallest size, but still. The one above was the second.

Gonna run now. Want to finish up some stuff. Keep the piece.

Long, long time

2008-02-20T13:04:00.002-05:00

Geesh, it seems like years since I posted. I've been busy trying to get my parents well, straightening up the house as my niece and her husband, my nephew, and their baby, my grand nephew, are coming for a visit. I think that since the Giants won the Super Bowl, I have been in a state of shock. LOL!!!! I have finally started to put together the second CC quilt. I have one more panel to add to my bargello quilt. I put together a backing for a Baby Genius quilt for my other niece and now I have to figure out if I am going to quilt it or should I give it to my LA. Maybe I'll ask her to put it on the frame and then pin it so that I can quilt it. That would be a novelty. Going to go out tonight and take some pictures of the eclipse. I'll post them later. Going back to cleaning. See you later. Keep the piece.

Withdrawal

2008-01-28T20:45:00.000-05:00

I haven't sewn a seam in nearly a week. I haven't cut a piece of fabric in almost a week. I have, however, put together the bargello bowl fabric that I need to press and cut for super bowl Sunday. My Dad has shingles, so I have been regulated to taking my Mom to all her appointments; shopping for food, etc. And I also cook all the meals. By the time I get done, I am pooped. So it has been to bed early for me, and that means I am in bed at 10PM but I don't fall asleep until after one. I'm going to need a vacation soon, lol. I'm not really complaining, but it is a lot of work. I'm hoping to be able to start to sew together the black, white, pink one tomorrow and then I can get the fabric together for the bargello bowl quilt. And I still have to get this den straightened out so that when my niece comes down from NY with the baby, we will have a place to sit around and gab. All my UFO's are in plastic grocery bags all over the room that I must put away. Or finish. I guess I will have to get a book on machine quilting using a sewing machine, not a long arm or a short arm or one of those really expensive sewing machines. Just an ordinary Kenmore, no bells, no whistles. Oh, well, that's it for now. Keep the piece.

Finished one top, starting the other

2008-01-25T19:10:00.000-05:00

Here is the top for mystery quilt number one. This one is the purple, white, pink one. I still have to start on the black, white, pink one. My Dad came down with shingles, so I am doing all the running around to shop etc. I also have the task of taking Mom to therapy and the doctor etc. After doing this for two days, I had to put a stop to it today. My knee was killing me, I could hardly walk, so all I did was go to the drugstore to pick something up for my Dad and then I spent the rest of the day watching General Hospital from two weeks ago. Had the dog in my lap and it was great. Still have two more episodes to watch to catch up and I will do that later. The weather here has cooled a little here. Very nice out, too bad the dog doesn't like to be outside. I would take him to the dog park and let him run around. But because he is white, he can't be out in the sun, so that let's me off the hook. Going to bed now, and putting a pillow under my knee and watching those last two episodes of GH and Oddball. Hopefully I'll sleep through the night. Good night, sleep tight etc..... Keep the piece.

GIANTS GOIN' TO SUPER BOWL!!!!

2008-01-21T11:51:00.001-05:00

YIPEE!!!! After a nail biter of a game and many heart attacks, the GIANTS finally kicked the game winning field goal to win the game and send thenselves to the super bowl. I cannot imagine what they were feeling when they took the field and played in those tempatures. I wouldn't have been able to breathe in that cold. Don't care, they won and now I have a team that I can really root for in the super bowl. GO GIANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can't sew another stitch

2008-01-20T14:48:00.000-05:00

Okay, I was playing a game in Pogo and they were talking about getting a beer and someone said something about vodka and I got to thinking. So I got the bottle of Kaluha and then I took the vodka out of the freezer and then I got the half and half and I made myself a very, very strong white russian. So no more sewing until I finish the drink and it wears off. LOL!!!! Football this afternoon, GO GIANTS, GO GIANTS, GO GIANTS!!!!!!!!!!

Half my quilt top is sewn together. So I know I accomplished something this morning. Considering the fact that I didn't go to sleep until after five this morning. My Dad came to me last night and informed me that his hyrnia (?) was bothering him, it is on the same side as the broken rib. He told me that if he should start vomiting, I should call 911. SO HOW COULD I GO TO SLEEP??????????????? At around five, he came into my room and told me that he felt much better and then I went to sleep. Phone rang this morning at 10:30, it was my aunt and I will probably go up to see her on Tuesday and give her the quilt I made for her. That's the quilt on top. The pinwheels are green, the sashing is beige. Can't see it too well in that picture. The quilting was done by Cathy at my quilt shop, she did a wonderful job. The binding was done by Suzanne, also at my quilt shop. And she did a wonderful job too. And I didn't have to "buy" any fabric for this quilt, all done with stash, except for the backing, which I bought at my quilt shop. But I have so much left over, I have put it into the mystery quilt as squares. I don't have to worry about backing for these two mystery quilts. I have wide backing in purple and pink that I am going to use. But I haven't gotten to that point yet. Going to watch football now. LET'S GO GIANTS!!!! Keep the piece.

One corner done!!!

2008-01-20T12:21:00.000-05:00

Yipee!!! One corner done. I'm working on putting the next row together. It doesn't look as bad as I thought. Looks better when I hang it up. I've been taking pictures while it was laying on the coffee table. I hung it up over my baker's rack that has all my supplies on it. OOOOO, I'm so excited. Can't wait to get this done. Renée is doing the happy dance. Keep the piece.

I've Decided

2008-01-20T00:35:00.001-05:00

Thanks everyone for helping me decide NOT to put sashing into the quilts. The majority voted for the sashing, but I really want to get these quilts put together and if I put sashing into them, then I wouldn't get done until who knows when. And I've got two rows of Quilt #1, purple/white/pink sewed together and it looks great. So tomorrow is another day and I will hopefully get the rest of this quilt put together and then I can do the other one and then I can think about borders. Pink for both? I'll figure it out another day. Tired, going to bed. Photos later. Keep the piece.

Confusion

2008-01-19T13:32:00.000-05:00

Well, I finally finished the ring blocks for the black/white/pink quilt #2. I have taken pictures of the setting with and without sashing. I don't know if I like either one. Is it possible for y'all to let me know? Above are the pictures, the top two are without the sashing and the bottom two are with sashing, as you can see, duh. I don't know if the sashing is dark enough to make a difference, but I don't have anything darker. I think I'll put this one aside for now and work on the other quilt's ring blocks. I might have the same problem with that one too. The star blocks just disappear. Hope y'all will help. Thanks. Keep the piece.