Going home

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last posted.  But life has been hectic, so that does make sense.

Let's see, what I've been doing...

First, a trip to Maryland to visit  family and the place my husband grew up. We didn't get up north for Christmas because of the flu.  Unfortunately, his parents were dealing with various health issues and spending too much time in the ER... we weren't able to vist with them for very long, but did spend the day with his siblings and enjoyed a nice dinner together.

From there we went "home" to Winchester VA.  Hubby spent several days at the plant sorting through files and product samples, deciding what was to be disposed of and what should be kept for product historical reference.  The plant is now officially closed, but he needs to go back again and finish the job .  

While he did that, we went and visited the old homestead.  The new owners have made quite a few changes over the last 10 years... most notably... building a detached  "3 car garage" on top of what was our vegetable garden!  Yes, it was a garage/storage space accessed via the driveway around the back of the house, but it's main purpose was the street level living quarters for his mother.  They added access to her appartment with a porch on the front side.  So basically they built a second house 20 feet from the main house!  I can't believe the HOA allowed it!  I should have grabbed my camera and taken pictures, but I was so shocked I didn't think of it!  Gone were all of the beautiful flower gardens we had worked so hard to cultivate.  The pond is now overrun with cattails and needs a lot of work.

I spent the remaining time at the local Discovery Museum.  White House applesauce is grown and packaged locally and they sponsored the museum which included an area mimmicking a factory.  The grandson had a blast using the various pulley systems to move the apples from the tree through the factory.

  

And no trip north would be complete with out a drive over to Federick for some steamed Maryland Crabs!  Banging crab claws with the little wooden hammer was his favorite part!... he even ate some!

Another Aquisition and UFO Progress

I was recently volunteering at the local Habitat ReStore, helping my daughter earn sweat equity hours.  On a shelf, in the back, I spied this serger on a top shelf.  I have never used one, but I understand they are great for finishing the edges of a quilt before binding.  So, I asked about it.  It had not been plugged in or tested, but if I wanted it, I could take it home, as is, for $10.  I turned the flywheel (is that what it's called?) a few times and it appeared to be stitching the newspaper (rolling eyes here) so it came home with me.  With all the tops I plan on completing this year, I think that she will be a nice addition to my machine collection.

In January, I had several projects that were near completion... just needing borders or a bit more hand stitching.  There were several others that were just waiting their turn on the quilter.   Pat Sloan is blogging monthly tips and ideas on how to move projects along, so I have jumped on the bandwagon too.

First, I made a list ... a long list... of all the projects I have on hand in various stages of completion. 

Then I decided to make some progress... starting with actually quilting some of the tops I had already completed.  When not taking care of family and activities, I spend most of my time quilting for customers or making donations or gifts... not quilting something for me.  So, my UFO busting plan is to get my tops out of topville this year!

In January, I completed Lucky Charms... a free pattern by Pat Sloan.  It is now hanging in my living room.    



 



In February, I completed my Welcome Basket Sampler... my modified version of another design Pat Sloan. I started this in a class with Pat back in 2010.  It hung as a flimsy on my wall last fall.  Now it is ready for hanging this fall.  This wall hanging won a blue ribbon at the district women's club competition and is currently on its way to Nashville for state level competition! 

In March, I completed a jelly roll quilt, my ScrapMania Thangles quilt, and a baby quilt for my soon to be born grandson (oops need to get a picture of that one!) My proudest completion this year is the wall banner for my son's class.  I blogged about it earlier; I started working with the "kids" individually in September, helping them choose a shape, fuse it and blanket stitch it to the background.  I was able to complete the final construction in time to hang for Easter celebrations at the church.

Now it's April and next up is my Baltimore Album quilt.  I purchased this quilt kit from my LQS several years ago and then just got busy and never got it made.  Last year I assembled the quilt and this year it will be completed.  It is the first one that my husband actually said he liked... without any prompting from me!  Definitely a keeper!  It is currently on the quilter and I hope to have it ready to bind this weeken. 

2013 Totals - March

Oh my goodness!  Where did the month go?!?!

I finished my handwork projects for March and won first place awards for the knitting and wall hanging!  They move on to the women's club state competition April 6.

I also completed and delivered my son's classroom banner.  Everyone was thrilled to see this project come together!  We will do a formal presentation to the pastor mid-April and it will hang in the church for a couple weeks for all the parishioners to see before it finds a permanent place in the classroom!

 
 WORK COMPLETED IN MARCH
.....05.....customer tops quilted (YTD 23)
.....02.....customer quilts bound (YTD  06)
.....00.....flimsy completed waiting for quilting ( 4 )
.....03.....quilted flimsy (YTD 5 )
.....27......hand-work hours (47 YTD )

MY PROJECTS COMPLETED THIS YEAR:
Lucky Charms wall hanging (1/21/13)
Basket Sampler Welcome wall hanging (2/15/13)
Knitted afghan  (3/20/13)
Scrap Mania quilt (3/19/13)
Orange/Blue Jelly Roll quilt (3/18/13)
Hope Academy Banner (3/27/13)
New Baby quilt (3/22/13)

        Bonnie Projects
.....00.....cheddar bowties blocks hand-pieced YTD  0 ...  81 of 162 in 2012)
.....00.....cheddar bowtie rows stitched (YTD  0 .... 9 of 18 in 2012)
.....00.....Orca Bay Step 1 hourglass blocks made (YTD 0 .. 21of 112 in 2012)
....done.....Orca Bay Step 2  3.5in string blocks made (completed in 2012 )
....done.....Orca Bay Step 3 2in HSTs (YTD 50    ....120 of 175 in 2012)
.....done....Orca Bay Step 4 5.5in string blocks (YTD 08....24 of 32 in 2012)
.....00.....Orca Bay Step 5 cut 350 triangles and stitch to part 3 (0 of 175)
.....00.....Orca Bay Step 6 cut 2.5in squares and assemble Ohio Stars (0)
.....00.....Floribunda Blocks (12 YTD).... with parts completed to assemble more blocks
..............Talkin Turkey..... 2 blocks complete plus parts
..............Midnight Flight....1 block complete plus parts
..............Winston Ways... 2 blocks complete plus parts
..............Easy Street Steps 1-8 Completed in 2012
.....00.....Easy Street  inner border cut and attached
.....00.... Easy Street  2nd border: square in square blocks  (72 of 116 YTD
............. Easy Street final purple border