Snowy Day in TN

Snowy days in TN when you are almost 4 can be lots of fun.
I had to make him several snowballs.... which he then threw at me!

We rolled several around the backyard and made these friends!

Then we walked down the block to great grandma's house

He noticed the footprints in the snow and just had to follow them!  Nancy Drew came to mind as I watched him hunch over looking for each footprint!
So cute!

 

Yardsale Saturday

Last year, Bonnie Hunter started a yardsale saturday where followers could link up and sell quilty items they no longer wanted.     This event is now being hosted by ColoradoLady and I since I have been cleaning and organizing I have decided to participate this month.

Listed below are some items that I would like to sell.  If you are interested in purchasing something, leave a comment below or email me at    madakamom@aol.com
Be sure to include your name and contact information so I can get back to you.


I keep my grandson on Saturdays, so I may not be able to respond immediately, but I will answer all inquiries in the order they arrive, ASAP!

This is my first online yardsale, so please be patient with me.  I only just heard about this so I haven't checked on shipping costs.  My plan will be to take items to the Post Office on Monday, check on what it will cost to ship to you, then I will notify you the cost. If that is acceptable to you, send me a check and I'll send you the items.   Sound like a plan??  Good...  here we go.

#1 a patriotic quilted jacket  $15.00(plus shipping) 

I believe it is a size large or 12/14.  I'm not really sure when or where I aquired this, but I no longer have any interest in wearing it.... especially in the July heat of Tennessee!

 Item #2  Child's animal print fabric  $10.00 (plus shipping)


These two coordinating fabrics come with a typed pattern to make a rag quilt.  There are a couple of completed blocks.  No batting included.

2 yards

3 yards

              ******************************

The following kits are patterns and fabric that I bought fully intending to make quilts, but just do not have enough time.  

Because yardage needed for each kit includes measurements like 1/4, 1/2, 1/3, 3/8, 7/8 ...I have just estimated total yardage (I am mathematically challenged when it comes to adding different denominator fractions..I could figure it out given enough time but don't want to go to the effort, hope you don't mind)




Item #3  Summer Twist Quilt Kit $40 (plus shipping)  SOLD

 This kit includes pattern and just over 6 yds of fabric for the quilt top plus an additional 5yds for backing

Item #4  Pinwheel Fun $40 (plus shipping)  SOLD

 
This kit includes pattern and ~9 yds of fabric for the quilt top plus an additional 5yds for backing

Item #5  Pretty in Pink $40 (plus shipping)SOLD

This kit includes pattern and ~9 yds of fabric for the quilt top plus an additional 5yds for backing

Item #6  Fall Spin $40 (plus shipping) SOLD

 
This kit includes pattern and ~10 yds of fabric for the quilt top plus an additional 5yds for backing
 

Item #7  Christmas $40 (plus shipping)  SOLD

 
This kit includes pattern and ~12 yds of fabric for the quilt top plus an additional 5yds for backing


Be sure to check out the other yardsale items available that are linked at

http://ColoradoLady.blogspot.com

2013 TOTALS

The month has quickly slipped by.  I started out a bit slow as I recovered from the flu, but have finished out the month with a bang. 

I started the month by taking some time to organize and list all the UFOs I have in my possession with the idea of making a plan to actually complete them... see my earlier post here:  http://madakamom.blogspot.com/2013/01/ufo-listing.html  So with that in mind I decided to attempt completion of one UFO each month.

Back in 2010 Pat Sloan offered up a free wall hanging pattern, Lucky Charms 
http://patsloan.typepad.com/quiltershome/pat-sloans-lucky-charms-sew-along-part-1.html  .  
The center block included some applique and since my zig-zag stitch is not working correctly I had to do that by hand and fell behind completion.  I eventually finished the top and it has sat in Topville joining other tops waiting to be quilted while I worked on customer quilts, gifts and various projects.  Recently,  I had several delays in working on customer quilts (waiting for backing or batting to be delivered) so I decided to pull this out and get it done.  I am pleased with the way it turned out!

I have worked every spare minute (hours) this month working to complete parts and assemble Easy Street... a mystery quilt by Bonnie Hunter.. offered free on her blog until June 2013

 http://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/easy-street-mystery.html

 I didn't want this to become yet another UFO!

I didn't have Bonnie's neon color choices and since the goal was to shop the stash, I used my Civil War Reproduction fabrics that I have been hoarding.  If I had known how this would all come together I would have changed the color placement, making either the purple or the blue dominant color rather than the green, but I am happy with the results.  Now I have to decide on final borders, but that will be a post for next week.



WORK COMPLETED IN JANUARY
.....10.....customer tops quilted (YTD 10)
.....02.....customer quilts bound (YTD  02)
.....01.....flimsy completed waiting to be quilted  (YTD  1) Easy Street
.....01.....quilted flimsy (YTD  1) Lucky Charms

..............hand-work hours (YTD )
        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)
.....00.....Orca Bay Step 2  3.5in string blocks made (completed in 2012 )
.....00.....Orca Bay Step 3 2in HSTs (YTD 0 ....120 of 175 in 2012)
.....06.....Orca Bay Step 4 5.5in string blocks (YTD 06....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 1-7 Completed in 2012
.....13.....Easy Street Step 8 Block A (16 of 16)
.....09..............Block B ( YD 9 of 9)

Monday Mornings

Monday mornings you can usually find me trying to clear paperwork and clutter off the dining room table, paying bills, and balancing accounts.  


My son usually entertains himself playing with is Wii or sitting in front of the tv watching his favorite shows and coloring.  He loves to color and paint.  For Christmas he received several sets of markers, crayons, paints, coloring books and kits.

A new tradition has started....   The kits involve mixing colors to get different shades of the same color.  So, his sister has been coming over Monday mornings and they paint together.  He really enjoys her company and attention and I love seeing them bond together.

After a couple hours of painting we clean up and head out for lunch... soup and salad at Olive Garden!

Easy Street Update

I am getting closer to a finish...

I ran just 36 bricks short of the light color fabric.  
I searched local LQS, but no more was available.
I posted at missingfabrics.com and although I received one answer, it was the correct print on the fabric, just the wrong colorway.  But I did order several yards with the idea of using it for the final borders.

As it turns out, I somehow made too many 4-patches.  So I spent last night frogging them and the pressing and sewing the light squares into bricks.  I had enough to make the needed parts for the last 5 blocks.

With all the piecing going on in this quilt, I don't think these pieced parts will stand out too much!

Here are the last 5 blocks stacked and laid out and ready to sew.  I plan to work on these in spare minutes during the week.  

I have recently designated Sunday afternoons as my ME-SEWING time, so the plan is to get this top together on Sunday.

After that, I have to decide what to do for the borders.  I have browsed through the Quiltville album of completed tops and I am leaning towards either the checkerboard border (I can't locate the maker or blog for that one) or the hst border by Cathy in TN.
 

 There is a lot more work involved in making all those hsts, but using the Easy Angle Ruler will make it easier.

The New Saturday Routine

My daughter is back to working on Saturdays again (sigh) but that means that we have the grandson for the day.  Two weeks ago he arrived around 7:30am and I offered him pancakes. 

"No I don't like pancakes... I want cereal"

So I gave him a small bowl of cheerios and milk and went about making pancakes because I had promised them to my son.  I made a big platefull, with extras to be warmed and eaten during the week.  Then I conned my grandson into tasting one.

"I LOVE pancakes!"

I don't think he knew what they were when I first offered... and just like his mother, his first reaction to something new is NO!  Mom doesn't have time in the morning to cook "fancy" breakfasts and get him ready for daycare and her for work.  Now he is all excited and I promised him pancakes every Saturday morning he came to visit.

I decided to plan ahead and mix up the incredients Friday night before going to bed..... big mistake!  The recipie called for 2TBS of sugar and  1/2 tsp salt.  Unfortunately I misread the directions.  As I was dumping the second tablespoon of salt into the mix I was thinking... that was an awful lot of salt!  I looked back at the recipie and realized I had mixed up the sugar and salt amounts!  AAACCCKKK! 

So I had my engineer husband do the math and adjust the recipe and then sent him out to Walmart for more flour.  I now have enough pancake mix for 12 batches!

jumbo ziplock bag full of pancake mix!

So the little one arrived Saturday morning, all excited to eat pancakes, and I was ready.  He ate 18! 

So my Saturday mornings will now include pancakes and Mickey Mouse.... what more could you ask for!

2012 FINAL TOTALS

I completed all the must have done for Christmas customer work and planned to get more done as well as quilting one or two for me, but then life got in the way.  My grandson was sent home from daycare and straight to the pediatrician's office we went.  Flu confirmed. UGH! Three days later, I had it!  Double UGH!  So between feeling lousy and making three Christmas dinners and keeping up with family stuff over the holidays I didn't get any additional quilting done.  But, because I could work in short spurts as energy permitted I was able to keep up with Bonnie's Easy Street Mystery... until the last two rapid fire steps that completed the blocks and assembled the top.  I'm still working on making the blocks..just a few more to go.  I hope to have the top assembled soon.

WORK COMPLETED IN DECEMBER
.....06.....customer tops quilted (YTD 91)
.....03.....customer quilts bound (YTD 18)
.....00.....flimsy completed waiting to be quilted  (YTD 12)
.....01.....quilted flimsy (YTD 5)... Improv, Pink Baby, Pink Flannel, Twirl, Amelia, Cardinals
.....00.....Mini Cell phone purses completed for spa night!(YTD 50)
..............hand-work hours (YTD 89) (40 frill scarves, 3 hat/scarf sets)
        Bonnie Projects
.....00.....cheddar bowties blocks hand-pieced (YTD 81 of 162)
.....00.....cheddar bowtie rows stitched (YTD 9 of 18)
.....00.....Orca Bay Step 1 hourglass blocks made (YTD 21of 112)
.....00.....Orca Bay Step 2  3.5in string blocks made (YTD 37 of 36 )
.....00.....Orca Bay Step 3 2in HSTs (YTD 120 of 175)
.....17.....Orca Bay Step 4 5.5in string blocks (YTD 24 of 32)
.....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
....192....Easy Street Step 1 4-patches
....128....Easy Street Step 2 flying geese
.....64............background rectangles
.....64......Easy Street Step 3  64 shaded 4-patches
.....04........... corner triangles
.....64......Easy Street Step 4 double geese
....145............green squares
.....64......Easy Street Step 5 sitting turkeys
...128......Easy Street Step 6 doubl bricks
.....76...........76 quarter square triangles
.....04......Easy Street Step 7  #1 triangles
.....12...............#2 Triangles
.....03......Easy Street Step 8 Block A (3 of 12)
.....01..............Block B (1 of 9)

UFO Listing

It's that time of year again... new resolutions, new goals.  To that end, Pat Sloan is starting her UFO Busting "Program" this week... You can follow along on her blog beginning here... 

http://blog.patsloan.com/2013/01/pat-sloan-12-ufo-busting-tips-know-what-you-have-is-tip1.html

The first step is to know what I have.  With last years UFO listing as a guideline, I am taking inventory of what I have done in 2012 and what still remains hidden in boxes, totes and closets.


COMPLETED IN 2012
Improv Block Quilt (february)
Scotts Squares (december)
Pink Baby Flannel (november)
Pink Baby FQ (november)
3 pj pants for grandson (december)
8 table runners (november)
50 mini purses (August)

WAITING TO BE QUILTED
Orange/Blue Jelly Roll (Sept 2012)
Antique top acquired at Bell Buckle 2012
Christmas Swap Blocks (moved up in march 2012)
Baltimore Album Quilt (moved up in april 2012)
ScrapMania Thangles Quilt (moved up in june 2012)
Civil War Snowball Quilt (made sometime in 2011)
Rosewood Cottage - 1/2 hand quilted (waiting since 2006)
Lucky Charms (waiting since 2010)
Basket Sampler Quilt (waiting since 2011)
Birthday Star (waiting since 2008)...may get rid of this one
Monkey Wrench BOM (waiting since 2007)... trying to sell as a top
Set of 4 placemats (waiting since 2011)

WORK-IN-PROGRESS
2012 Orca Bay - some of steps 1-4 completed (working as a leader/ender)
2012 Cheddar Bowties - 81 blocks complete (1/4 of the quilt)...hand project
2012 Easy Street - working on step 8
2012 Florabunda - 4 more blocks to make


ALMOST DONE
2012 Basic Class Wall Hanging - need to finish hand applique on 4th block then assemble
2012 Pillow Cover - assemble parts
2009 Sunbonnet Sue - needs 3 prairie point borders to be a flimsy
2012 Blue Baby Flannel (gift for grandson)
2012 Becky's Barn Basket Blocks (small wallhanging)


CLASS PROJECTS STARTED
2012 Winston Ways (2 blocks)
2012 Turkey Tracks (2 blocks)
2012 Midnight Flight (1 block)


STARTED AND STOPPED DEAD
2010 Vicksburg BOM - 3 to hand applique..I may just assemble the completed blocks into a flimsy and quit
2011 Happiness Key - background prepared
2011 Dear Jane/Hot Momma Rose - 3 blocks complete
2010 Swartz Creek Quilt - unfinished class project
2009 1950s Santa - applique - working on block 2 of 12
2006 Barn Blocks - 5 more applique blocks, then log cabin blocks to assemble


KITS NOT YET STARTED
Pastel stars
Pink Baby Quilt
5-Star Tablerunner
Parisian 20
Cardinal Wall Hanging
Quilt Diva
Colonial Christmas
Golden Stars tablerunner
CJ's Care Bears
Iris Table Runner
2 American Dolls
Charm Square CW String blocks
Jamestown Landing BOM
Green/Pink BOM
Black White & Red
Orphan Fan Blocks
Heart Blocks
Pumpkin wall hanging
4th July Wall Hanging - paper pieced
Recycle Quilt Teddy Bears
2012 Maria's Stars
2012 Black White Gray Stars
at least 12 QOM kits

Easy Street... question

I have made several Block A and love the look

Block A

I have also made several Block B... 
But, I have been thinking about changing the center of B block to a purple ... giving the block a slightly different look (green is not my favorite color and had I realized how predominent the green would be I would have swapped the blue and green colors.  But since it was a mystery... it is what it is and I can live with it.

Block B

Alternate Block B

And here the all the blocks are laid out ... but i can't decide if I like the purple or green center on the B block better. 

Assembled Corner

Assembled Corner Alternate Block B

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Florabunda

Last fall I participated in the FCE Craft Day and offered a quilt block class using Bonnie's Florabunda block.  I kitted up way too many blocks for the number of participants, and decided to make the extra's up into a quilt for myself.

I've worked on them a little bit here and there, and have finally completed 12 blocks.  I think I have enough kits for four more blocks.  Here they are laid out and ready to stitch together.

I'm not sure what I'll do with these next.    It's not very big.  I don't have enough of the floral to make a border.  Maybe just a narrow yellow border followed by a wider solid red border.

Easy Street Steps 7 & 8 and a partial reveal

I fell behind making the step 7 parts for this mystery when my grandson came for an overnight visit.  We just had to play cars and read and color.... much more important than sewing!

I made the four #1 triangles

but I completed only six of the 12 needed #2 triangles before the Step 8 reveal Monday morning. 

Step 8 has us making 16 block A

           and 9 Block B
(oh, but don't look too closely at this picture because I've oriented  two of those 4-patches incorrectly and spent half my sewing time frogging and re-sewing them correctly but forgot to take a corrected picture... I'll get that done eventually)




And because I am impatient and just can't wait to get all the blocks done to see what this will look like, after making just a few, I laid them out on the floor for a sneak peak at my own reveal!.

The holidays are over now and it's back to work tomorrow, so I will have less sewing time to finish assembling blocks and complete the top, but I will get it done and post pictures as soon as possible.

thank you Bonnie for another fun-filled mystery!

UPDATE:  Mon Jan 7...I don't have time to write up another post at the moment for the link up, but I have now completed all the triangles.  Will be working on Blocks A&B this week as time permits.

Be sure to check out Bonnies page and all the links to other's Easy Street projects!   http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2013/01/mystery-monday-link-up-jan-7th.html

Easy Street Part 7

Bricked Geese are done!

But the grandson has arrived to spend the night, so sewing the pieced triangles will have to wait until after bedtime.

Easy Street Update

I have been working most of the afternoon, hoping to get caught up and ready for Step 7 Monday morning. Mission Accomplished!... almost. 

64 Sitting Turkeys..... done!




64 quarter square triangles.... cut!

128 Double Bricks...... 92 complete....Almost done..

I would be done, but I ran short on fabric.

I have been using three different black/white background fabrics and have been making all previous parts using equal amounts.  I knew I had uneven amounts of each fabric but I hoped it wouldn't make a difference.

So, for this step I used up the end of the lightest fabric... pairing it evenly with the other two cream fabrics until I ran out.   (23 double bricks of each)



Then I sewed the remaining other two fabric bricks together.... I even pieced three bricks to stretch the fabric as much as possible... (46 double bricks)

but I need 36 more bricks of this Judie Rothermel fabric. 


I checked the online fabric stores....no luck. 

I've put a request out on Facebook in hopes that someone might have an extra quarter yard they would be willing to part with....no reply yet.

I've made the 30 mile run to my LQS, but she doesn't have the fabric or anything close.

Worst case scenario.... I cut 36 squares of the one remaining fabric I have  to use place of the double bricks.  Bonnie did say that would work for those who only had one background fabric.  I'm hoping that I can make it work for me.

Christmas 2012 and Easy Street Part 4 Complete

Although the flu interrupted all my holiday travel and sewing plans I am feeling better and back among the living.  We enjoyed the subdued Christmas here at home as even my visiting brother and his family were fighting colds. The only ones full of any energy were Matthew and my grandson!   They decorated the tree together and played with the trains we set to run underneath.   

 
I made Christmas Eve dinner for #1 daughter and her boyfriend.  Obviously, the boyfriend is not accustomed to home cooked meals... his classic comment about my roast beef dinner... "Wow!  This is way better than Arby's!"

The best gift opening moment was when my grandson opened the Penguin night-light/pillow I bought him and exclaimed "AWESOME!"  We had to turn off all the lights so he could see the stars it projected onto the ceiling.

Christmas morning hubby, Matthew and I opened our gifts.  Santa knew just what we needed!  A 2" strip die for my Studio cutter, rotary blade sharpener and a special glass teapot with blooming flower teas for me; fishing lures and a bucket of Hooters hot wing mix for hubby; and a variety of coloring and word search books, music CDs and a flat screen tv for Matthew with enough ports to plug in his array of electronic gizmos without having to go behind and switch wires anymore! 

Even Toby had a special treat!

#2 daughter and her boyfriend came for Christmas Day dinner and my brother and his family arrived earlier than expected and joined us too.  Things got hectic and I neglected to take pictures, but several more days of family meals and chats, walks, bowling, movies and fun was had by all.  Now the house is quiet and I'm up for some sewing again.

Easy Street Part 4... stacked geese... is now complete

Stacked Geese

 Part 5... Sitting Turkeys.... are all cut and are now in progress...

One Sitting Turkey.... 63 more to go!

Tis the Season....

 Quilting and travel plans for the next two weeks have been interrupted....

Instead, we have...

meds and fluids

plenty of rest

wet cloth to cool a temperature

I'm wishing everyone a Merry Christmas...  and hope to feel better by New Years Eve to be able to sew.  I'm caught up through Step 4... so not too far behind to catch up once my head stops pounding.

Easy Street Step 4 and Becoming Tech Savvy

I have tried a number of times to watch Quiltcam on my Kindle when my husband was busy on the desktop with no luck... it just sits there with that little blue circle spinning round and round indicating that it was loading...NOT!

Recently someone on Quiltville Chat who was using their Kindle for Quiltcam informed me that I needed to download a Ustream app from Amazon.com in order to view Quiltcam on my Kindle. I searched all over the Amazon site for a Kindle Ustream app.... no such thing.  I finally gave up and used that "contact us" button for help.  There was a quick reply.... Kindle is an Android device... download the Android app and it should work!  Who knew!?!!!  I sure didn't!  I sure wish these electronic things came with a written  how-to manual!  ... you know... something like "Kindle for dummies!"  I have had this thing for nearly a year and have figured out how to check email (which is very slow) and read books.  Now I can do Quiltcam!  There is probably a lot more I could do too, if I only knew how!

So, not only is Bonnie an inspiration and a super quilt teacher!  she is also a pipeline to technological information!   Thank you Bonnie!

I finally got it working and was able to watch Bonnie on Quiltcam Sunday afternoon.  Good thing, because I was in the middle of prepping dinner and suddenly remembered that her 2pm time was actually my 1pm time...I just lost an hour!  YIKES!   So I grabbed my Kindle and held on to Bonnie with one hand while I saute'd  and mixed and got dinner together and into the oven.

I had just put everything in the oven and was starting to clean up when hubby comes in with the camera wanting to document my insanity! LOL!

 

Here are Steps 1 through 3 completed early Saturday Morning.

Step 4 is now underway....

145 green squares cut and, while watching Quiltcam, 64 blue geese under construction!

I still have a bit more sewing to do, but I'm sure I will be able to finish long before the next step is published on Friday!. 

UPDATE:

I wrote and set this to post early this morning....

But I was up early again this morning and making more progress on Step 4.  Blue Geese are all done and the Stacked Geese are now in progress...

I forgot to take a picture of the pile of Blue Geese, but as I was trimming the Stacked Geese I discovered this...

If I trim Blue Geese up first, the center angle line on my ruller lines up with the Blue Goose

Then I flip the block so the Black/White Goose is on top and the center angle lines up with the Blue Goose on the bottom!

And here is a link back to Bonnie's blog.  At the bottom of her page are links to 240 avid Bonnie followers who have posted about their progress on this mystery also.

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2012/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-4.html

Go check them out and see all the different color ways that others have chosen.