Windy



Blowing in the wind.



 

It was a little more windy than I thought it might be.  (Looking out the window, it didn't look too bad.)

All the borders are on and now to find a backing so I can quilt it.



I was flat on my back under the quilt to get this picture.  I love how the sun shines through it, like stain glass.

Three Borders

As promised, here is a picture with three borders done.  It's been fun going through the fabric stash and picking out colors that will work.  Hope to have the fourth border on tomorrow.

Borders

The bubble bath worked.  It is a good thing I decided to quit when I did.  Tonight when I started sewing I'm whipping those pieces through the machine, only to find out that I ran out of bobbin thread.  Last night I wouldn't have been able to handle it.  Tonight I just laughed.  Wound a bobbin, repinned (Is that a word?) and started sewing again.  Haven't we all had times like this?  Today was beautiful, but I didn't have the 2 side borders sewn on yet so I didn't take a picture.  Soon, very soon.

Still On The Borders

I feel like I have the no attention span tonight.  It could be related to the fact that I didn't sleep well last night.  And I'm not even sure why I didn't sleep well.  It has taken me 4 starts to get all of the blocks on the border pinned.  And now I'm afraid to sew, for fear of messing up and having to rip.  So I'm just going to go take a nice bubble bath and see if that will fix what ails me.  Wish me luck.

More On The Borders

I'm still working on the borders of my jigsaw quilt.  Sewed some on the third side and dug through my stash for more fabrics for the last side.  I'm really getting excited to finish this quilt. Hope the weather is nicer tomorrow so I can get a picture.  No picture today as it was dark and overcast.  I'm ready for some sunshine.

Borders

I've been coming along very well with my jigsaw border.  I was going to take a picture outside but the weather is not cooperating.  It's been raining all day.  So I have been cleaning and working on the jigsaw. I have one side done and sewn on.  I have the top all sewn together and am working on the other side.  I need to lay it all out so I know which blocks will intersect with the corner blocks.  BTW, I had another math error, I needed a lot more puzzle pieces than I first thought, about double.  What is it with me and math?  I use to be really good at it.  Maybe that's why I like the string blocks, no math.  (I made about 8 of those today.)

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

Hope you all enjoy your day!

Karen

Mistake

I made a little mistake when I was cutting out my black border.  And I didn't realize it until I had the first two borders sewn on.  I didn't make them 6.5 inches wide.  So my top and bottom borders are an inch too big.  So I trimmed them up and I'm going to have to fudge a little when I get to the next border of jigsaw pieces.  I know I can figure this out and all will be fine.  And if I do an extra 1/8th of an inch seam, it will be fine.  It isn't going to the Fair, although I do want it to turn out nice.

Cutting Again

It was time today to look through my fabrics to find more fabric to make the border puzzle pieces.  I think I need 28 different fabrics, if I figured this correctly.  Found 25 different fabrics so far and have them all cut.  Just need 3 more.

Puzzle Is Done

My puzzle is all put together!  I went out this afternoon looking for indigo or black Kona Cotton to use for the border.  I knew that the Hancock Fabrics in my town didn't have those two colors or I would have bought it Saturday when I had my class.  Since I live near another city, I went in search of my fabric.  First Hancock Fabrics I went to didn't have either color.  Second one I went to didn't have either color.  Third time the charm and I found both indigo and black.  However the indigo didn't have enough yardage so I got the black.  (I was really leaning towards the indigo, but that's OK.) I'm going to border the puzzle in black and then add another row of puzzle pieces around the outside.  At least that's my plan. 

A Little Sewing

Last night I was very  tired and I didn't get much done on row 5, a little, not much, almost nothing, hardly could say that I sewed. That's how little I did.  Tonight I finished the row.  On to the last row, #6!

Still Sewing

I managed to get row 4 done last night even with the distraction of "Dancing With The Stars".  I'm thinking I'd like to have another go at this pattern.  Maybe add a few more brights and/or big prints to it.  It is a fun quilt to do.

Sewing

I was able to do a little sewing today.  I have rows 2 and 3 of my jigsaw quilt sewn together.  It's coming along nicely!

Saturday Class

I took a class this morning at a local Hancock Fabrics store.  We're making a jigsaw puzzle quilt.  I've wanted to do one of these for some time and I thought this was the perfect time.  It gave me the whole day to work on it.  (Some of the pieces are on my sewing machine, that's why there are the white spaces.)

This is Jean who taught the class.  I know, I caught her talking to us about the quilt.  She is a great teacher.  Her blog is here with more pictures of the class she taught last Saturday.  Love the way the quilts turn out.

Another view of my quilt.  I had all the centers sewn together and the first row is done. Deja Vu, right?  Just like the quilt last weekend.  I have some sewing to do!

More Cutting

I know, I know, how many strips do I think I need to cut?  I'm taking a class this Saturday at my local Hancock Fabrics and I need 48 - 2.5 inch strips.  The thing is, I'm trying to use Bonnie Hunter's Scrap Savers System so after I cut the 2.5 inch strip I need, I cut the rest of the fabric into more 2.5 or 3.5 or 1.5 or 2 inch strips.  And even a few 5 inch strips.  Plus I've been rooting around the bins of fabric looking for the "perfect" fabrics. So it takes a little time.  Time well spent doing something I love, playing with fabric.

Behind

I'm behind in my blogging.  Monday night I spent my 15 minutes getting my machine set back up and putting things away.  Then last night and again tonight I spent time cutting 2.5 inch strips.  Nothing too exciting to post, all the fun was had this past weekend.

Mini Retreat

And the stitching begins!  Friday night I finished cutting the last of my "lead" strips for the stain glass Turning Twenty.  Bright and early Saturday morning the sewing started.

Patti had the first finish!  Cute ABC quilt.

Saturday night  is here and all I had done was one row.  All the other blocks were in various stages of completion.   I had hoped to finish sewing the whole quilt. 

I'm terrible at judging how long things will take me.  We didn't sew the entire day though.  We went out to lunch at PJs Diner and they had a great "quilt" block on the side of the building.  I'm thinking Diner Quilt vs Barn Quilt.  We went for a walk before we left to eat, glad we did!  I got a little sun as you can tell from my face.  I burn very easily.

After lunch we stopped at a cute little shop called "Abigail Anne's", sorry, no picture.

This is the view of the lake from the deck, it was so peaceful.

Patti also made 2 string blocks on Sunday. I finished sewing all my blocks together and will finish sewing the rows together at home. We also got Patti's ABC quilt ready to be quilted as Patti has never done that.  And she's going to try quilting it herself, Go Patti!

Had a wonderful weekend,  Thanks Patti!

Stainglass Turning Twenty

I finished cutting the the 80 - 1.5 X 4.5 strips last night.  I'm now working on the 65 - 1.5 X 16.5 strips and then I'll get the 40 - 1.5 X 6.5 done.  There has been a lot of cutting to getting this quilt ready to travel.

My friend Patti and I are doing a mini retreat at her cabin this weekend.  I'll be cut off from the computer as I don't have a fancy phone (which I do want).  Even a laptop would be good.  (which I don't desire as much as the phone, but I wouldn't complain if someone gave me one.)  I'm still not totally "with it" when it comes to some of the techie stuff.  But I have been learning.  I love "Sew Many Ways...." blog as she has given lots of tips on blogging. Check it out here. 

PS My husband just was reading this over my shoulder and said  "Wow!  Hint. Hint."   Do you think he got it?

Addiction

Last night spent a little time (very little) cutting more of the lead strips for the Turning Twenty quilt.  Then I sewed more string blocks.  I have 4 more done. They are my new addiction. I'm going to run out of dryer sheets soon, so I guess I'll have to do some laundry.  :-)

Get The Lead Out

I cut all 46 of my 1.5 inch strips for the "lead" of my Turning Twenty.  And I cut all the 2.5 inch strips I need for the binding.  I'm thinking I may need to cut some more, as I may add the blocks down the center of the backing.  Or, I just may piece a number of floral fabrics together to make the backing.  Can let that idea stew around for a little while before I decide.  Next step is cutting the strips into the sizes needed for sewing.

I also made about 5 more of the little string blocks.  I did go check, I do have 2 bins of strings plus I think there may even be some Christmas strings in a box someplace.  I am going to have to really speed this up if I'm going to make a dent in those bins!

Surprise!

My sister surprised me with these fun little goodies today.  There is a fat quarter of turtle fabric,  

 
 
 a turtle pincushion that she made from a turtle planter,  
 

   and a turtle purse/bag.  What a wonderful surprise!  Thanks Deb!

(Maybe you can tell I like turtles.)