Made to be played with

 This is a little 24″ square  quilt for Emma’s doll, Claire.  Hope Claire (and Emma) likes it!

An unprepared turtle

This little guy needs some Lunesta.  I found him last week under a leaf in the garden.  I showed him a nice hole to crawl into, so hopefully he’s taken the hint and gone underground for the winter.  They say we will probably have snow tonight or tomorrow.  He’s one of the babies I found in March. 

How come we always wait until after the cold weather hits to winterize the motor home?  I think it’s because we always hope to take one more trip.  I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow and then we’re going to do the winterizing chores.  Hope the wind is calm while were there. 

This is a  for our Guild’s Quilt Bank.  These quilts are given to non-profit organizations for fund-raising.  I didn’t sew the top, just did the quilting.  My frame is only 8 ft, and I had to repin several times to get the borders done since I could only do half at a time.   This has been on the frame for months — not that I procrastinate or anything!!

I’m very glad it’s done.  It’s been a major road block just because I didn’t make the effort to get it done.  Now I can move on and get some other things finished!!   When I look down the road, the remainder of the year is going to slip by.  Balloon Fiesta, Steve’s surgery, Emma’s birthday and then the holidays.  And somewhere in there I want to do a road trip or two.  Time to make a list of “want to dos” and start getting them done!  (I must have roads on my mind.)

Here’s my collection of applique blocks from the book, “Old Voices, New Impressions”, by Jeana Kimball.  I’m using hand dyes and need to add some embroidery details.  The top left and lower right are ones I’ve worked on this week and they still need to have berries added to complete the design.  I want to complete 25 blocks for a wall hanging.  That ought to take another decade or so — there’s no sense in rushing these things.

 Here’s the 2009 NMQA wall hanging for this year’s Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.  I didn’t do this one, but I did  work with a wonderful group of gals from our Community Serivce group to get the kits ready for members to quilt up.  Many hands make light work and within a couple of hours we had 22 kits ready to hand out.   I’m in charge of gathering the completed quilts and getting them ready for the fiesta. 

Here’s my latest block in the “Red Delicious” BOM.  I’m a couple of blocks behind and need to make some fabric decisions so I can get a move on.  The roses need some embroidery detail, and I’m considering removing a couple of the dark leaves  on the left and replacing them with the lighter color for balance. 

Here’s the rest of the blocks I’ve finished so far

And, if that isn’t enough, here’s a couple of UFOs I’ve been piecing on here and there:

Orange/Green Strips that Sizzle — this is about a twin size now and I want to keep making blocks until it’s a queen.  Steve put some gromets along the edge of a bat so I can have a queen design wall utilzing the closet doors. 

Moroccan Tiles.  If I don’t finish this one of these days, Janice has offered to take it off my hands. 

That’s all the quilty stuff.  Next I want to share the changes in my garden over the past month.  The first picture was taken towards the end of May.  I love iris and I’m always sad when they fade away, leaving nothing but leaves.  Last year, I decided to inter-plant daisys with the iris to hide the iris leaves as they shrivel into July.  The second picture was taken today.  The daisys have done a tremendous job of filling in and the hollyhocks are really putting on a show this year.   Maybe there will be daylilies when the daisys are gone. 

Iris

And here’s a rose

I could show you the red nail polish that I spilled all over the tile floor, but that would show you how clumsy I am at times.  It wouldn’t have spilled if the top had been put back on — now who can I blame for that???

Although there’s a bit of decoration to put on, I’m counting it as done.  Now I’ve caught up! 

This ruler has become my new fav!   I’m attacking my scraps by cutting it into 2 1/2 inch strips and squares with a five inch square thrown in here and there for good measure.  This ruler makes it quick and easy and I really like the non-slip feature.   I’ve already freed up a couple of plastic bins and I’m keeping a small stack of leftover scraps on my cutting table for when the mood strikes.  I’ve been collecting a few patterns that will make good use of the strips and I hope to get one started as soon as I have enough strips cut. 

The white quilts is “Baby Nines” from the pattern  by Connie Lancaster.  I first made this quilt several years ago for my girlfriends daughter.  At the time DD loved it, so I saved all the leftover fabrics and purchased additional backing so that I would be able to make an identical one.  I love this pattern, its easy to put together and really danty.   I decided to machine stitch the stems rather than applique them down so it can take the wear and tear I hope it gets. 

The second blanket is a flannel/minkie combo that I quilted using the Popcorn panto.  The popcorn looks like sheeps wool in this application and fits the lamb theme perfectly. 

I’m a bit sad today.  All summer long I’ve had a big orange spider (an orb weaver) living under the edge of my garden tool shed.  She’s gone today.  I looked high and low and don’t see her.  The last few days her web has been rather ragged, and this morning it’s only half there.  Usually, in the mornings her web is a beautiful circle which fills that corner of the flower border.  I suppose that with the cooler nights, it was time for her to leave.  I sure hope another takes her place next year.  It’s been fun watching her at dusk on her web.

I love how this turned out.  This was my first overall freehand design.  I started this one earlier this spring.  It had some “issues” along the way.  After doing the intial quilting, I didn’t like the way the bobbin thread laid on the back.  I had used Bottom Line in the bobbin and So Fine on top, and the thread seemed to be too flat on the back.  After taking it off the frame, I decided to frog the piano key border on two sides and redo them — which I did.  Last week while hand stitching the binding, I noticed that one side had NO PIANO KEYS!  How did that happen, and how come I didn’t notice it while putting the binding on the front side????   I’m not the kind of perfectionist that would removed the binding and put the quilt back on the frame, sometimes I wish I was, but most of the time, I’m glad I’m not.  So after the binding was completely done, I put in the piano keys using my DSM. 

 I doubt the baby will notice, and if so, I’ll blame it on her daddy, Bryan, who would have removed the binding!

Here’s the finished pics of Love me Knot.  It’s about 51″ square.  I’m really happy with how it finished.  This is my first two-color quilt, but I have a feeling it won’t be the last. 

Today I worked on Piñata.  I’m putting the final border on with the prairie points.  I have the points basted to the border segments, but on the last one I realized that if I measured two inches between points, they would all be spaced just right — so now I have to unbaste and readjust the first three.   

Also today, I baked a couple of loaves of banana nut bread.  I used a recipe I found online which called for 1 1/2 cups of sour cream and some banana schnapps.  I had 1 cup of sour cream so I threw in a bit of yogurt and I substituted Kahlua for the schnapps.   I figure I usually eat banana nut bread with coffee, so Kahlua should be good.  I also substituted pecans for walnuts.  Breakfast is going to be yummy tomorrow! 

It’s finished!! Yea!! one UFO done!  I’ll try to post a full picture tomorrow — it’s too late/dark tonight.  All it needs is a label, but we will have to wait to see who’s going to get it!

I’m thinking of starting a blouse next.  I haven’t sewn a garment (except scrubs) in along time.  I bought 10 yards of muslin a Jo-Ann’s on sale, so I can make a mockup for fitting. 

Aren’t these beautiful!?  The dark one is a rich dark green velvet, and some of the others are silk.  All yummy!  Now I feel a challenge to plan something pretty to make with them!  Thank you Allison!