12-26-07

Happy Day after Christmas! We had a wonderful celebration and have ingested way more than our year's sugar quota. My cousin brought unbelievably yummy caramel corn.

I can finally post the picture of the mystery gifts I worked on most of December. I made 4 table toppers, they are the size of a placemat. I knew I wanted to make a unit block of a green half square triangle with the other half triangle made of half red and half white. I had no idea what it would look like assembled till I actually put all the units together. Voila! It looked like peppermint candies.

I am finishing up the doll quilt I started earlier. Then I will start work on my son's graduation quilt.

Merry Christmas

12-24-07

Merry Christmas, and God's blessings to all.

Busy busy busy

12-17-07

I've been busy shopping and cooking and baking adn sewing Christmas gifts. So I have nothing to report. After Christmas I'll put up pictures of the project I have been working on.

Progress report

This quilt was made in 2000 for my first niece. My sister and brother-in-law sail, so I thought this was an appropriate pattern.

I made this quilt in 2004 for my second niece (same family). I wasn't sure what pattern to make and then I went to the quilt shop and saw this quilt displayed in the window. The owner/designer helped me pick out the fabrics.

12-03-07

I've been busy sewing those Christmas presents and they are *really* cute! No photos till after the gifts are given.

Progress

The border and binding are attached. I'll leave the hand sewing of the binding for my plane trip Wednesday. Besides, I have no green thread and I am not venturing out in the snow/sleet/freezing rain.

I bought this fabric for my newest brainstorm, Christmas gifts!

12-01-07

So I am cocooning today, not interested in heading out in bad weather. Guess I'll get started on those Christmas gifts!

Much better

11-30-07

Here is the new border on the baby doll quilt. I like it a lot better.

Let me just say it is so cold here. Where are the hot flashes when you need them?

Too "busy"

11-29-07

I started sewing the purple and green border on the baby doll quilt. It is too busy or choppy, so I am planning to undo the border and use the lavender fabric for the border and the green fabric for the binding. I am planning to take the quilt on my trip to FL next week to do the hand sewing on the plane. I would also like to do the same with the color wash mini-quilt. We'll see how it goes!

Sunset

11-29-07

This is the sunset I enjoyed Tuesday night from the front porch!

Back in Business

This is the dog, showing his complete lack of interest in my quilting activities.

Current work in progress--Amanda's Baby Doll quilt by Me and My Sister Designs.

Color wash project from about 15 years ago. I finally assembled the squares. I just need to do the borders and binding and quilt it.

A bin for every project.

The sewing machine and design wall (to the right).

11-26-07

It was wonderful to have the kids at home for the Thanksgiving weekend. Yesterday my husband drove them back to school and I was sad : ( We really miss them when they are away.

Well, I had to do *something* to cheer myself up, so I moved my sewing stuff back into their rooms.

Today I made another trip to the LQS for backing and contrast fabric for the Irish Chain quilt I'll be making for my son's graduation from college.

I also bought fabric for a new Christmas tree skirt. We have changed the color scheme in the living room and the old skirt just doesn't work. For now I will just drape the new fabric around the base of the tree.

Now I just need to sit down and sew!

Happy Thanksgiving!

11-22-07

Happy Thanksgiving!

The kids are home, we're off to church. Then the Packer game at 11 and then we'll be at my aunt's for our family gathering.

The sewing is packed up for while the kids are home.

One Charm Pack cut out

Wildrose fabrics from Moda U class.

2/3 yards of fabric shifted in the wash.

1 yard of fabric that sifted in the wash.

11-18-07

Ack. I got a cold, so I haven't had a lot of energy. But I did finally cut out the Bella Rosa charm pack for a doll quilt which I plan to hang on the wall.

Then I washed some yardage I bought that goes with one of the other charm packs. 1 yard of fabric and it shifted 2 inches in the wash. Now I am freaked out about the charm squares. I prewashed a different charm pack and most of the squares stayed square, but some of them are now trapezoids or rhombuses or whatever you call a square that is no longer square. It took forever to iron the squares after I washed them. Hmmm, I am thinking I am not going to be buying any more charm packs.

I had my Moda U class yesterday and the fabric line this month is Wildrose. They are exactly the colors I love--navy, dark reds, tans, etc. I have charm packs if this line as well and plan to do something with flying geese.

The kids are coming home on Tuesday for Thanksgiving so I will be packing up the sewing stuff so they can have their rooms back : )

Still trying to decide...

11-15-07

I did not cut out a quilt yesterday and may not yet today either. I have been pondering and changing my mind about what to do the with Bella Rosa charm pack. I think I have settled on a plan but want to think about it a little longer.

Maybe I'll cut out a quilt today!

11-14-07

Yesterday I caught up on my errands and folded 8 baskets of laundry, so I am thinking I may cut a doll quilt out of a charm pack today (Bella Rosa).

Next project list

11-12-07

So I am trying to hold off on any sewing this week as I have my next Moda U class on Saturday. However I have 3 different charm packs calling my name, and Saturday I will also buy fabric to make a quilt for my son, who graduates from college this December. He is a really simple guy so I am going to make him an Irish Chain quilt with a dark blue background and cream colored chain.

One of the charm packs is Sweet Baby Jane; I ordered Amanda's baby doll quilt kit from the Fat Quarter Shop. The fabrics are so cute and I think the quilt (19" by 19") will go together quickly. So I may cave and start that one of these days.

Today I am cooking for a friend, suffering with breast cancer, and her family.

Hunter's Star quilt

11-12-07

I made this Hunter's Star quilt last year. I took the class from Trudie Hughes in January 2006 and took a couple weeks in the summer to work exclusively on it. It is still waiting to be quilted. I think it is my favorite of all my quilts.

A quilt for my daughter

11-12-07

My daughter finished high school this past June. She asked me to make her a quilt to take to college; she said I made quilts for everybody else, couldn't she have one too? So we went to the quilt shop and she picked a pattern and fabrics. The pattern is Going my Way by Miss Rosie's Quilt Company. It went together pretty quickly and I got it finished 5 days before she left for school.

My recently finished quilt

11-12-07

This is a quilt I started about 3 years ago. I made the 9 patch blocks and didn't really like the colors I had picked, they just didn't go well together. So I took them all apart and tried again. Still didn't like it, so made them a third time and made it very symmetric with 4 jewel tone colors. It still really wasn't what I had hoped for, so I set it aside to quilt at a later date. I finally pulled it out last month and quilted it. It looks so great on our new brown sofa. My husband and daughter want to paint the living room red so it should all look great together.

Finished

11-11-07

I finished my quilted bag this morning. Just in time, as my next Moda U class is this Saturday. I think making it with 1 1/2 inch scrappy squares breaks up the fabrics nicely.

Diverted

11-10-07

So I really wanted to finish sewing my quilted bag today. But I have gotten on this organizing kick. I cleaned out the chest freezer, cleared off my desk, and now I am in the midst of reorganizing my filing cabinet. I am six months behind on filing because my filing system was so unwieldy, so I am trying to get it under control. I hope I can finish it tonight; I just got back from the office supply store for more file folders...

Oops!

11-10-07

Yesterday I made a pumpkin pie. When I took my first bite, I realized something was terribly wrong.

I forgot to put in the sugar.

I've got a new one (with sugar!) in the oven now.

Taking over the house

11-8-07

I decided since my kids are away at school, I would treat myself to sewing on the main floor of the house instead of down in the dungeon.

They are living in dorms, so all their furniture is still here, but I made room in my son's room for the sewing machine and ironing board. I bought an adjustable table that is counter top height to do my cutting; that is in my daughter's room. This way I can sew in short bursts and not have to put everything away. I do have the kids' blessing on this, and I will certainly take my things out when they come home for holidays : )

My first project in the new quilting studio is a quilted bag from my first Moda U class. I am doing the basic course offered at my local quilt shop. Each month we get 8 fat eighths of a Moda line of fabric. October's fabric was Allspice Tapestry. Hmm, I am more of a blue and burgundy person; pinks and browns, not so much. The pattern for the bag calls for large pieces of the fabrics, 6 x 6, 6 x 12. That is way too random for me so I used 7 of the fabrics and made rows of 1 1/2 inch blocks. I bought an extra yard of one of the fabrics for the lining and handles.

I hope to finish this in a few days and will post a photo of the finished project.

Karen

Thursday

9-6-07

Today was *my* first day of school! In the morning I helped Kathy in first grade. I copied, laminated, sorted and filed. I went home so Dave could take a shower, then ran to McDonalds to get him a diet Coke. Then I went to do computer work for Debbie. She is doing Kindergarten readiness this year. But since it was my nap time, my productivity was rapidly deteriorating, so I'll do the rest at home.

Then I came home to try to nap but couldn't. I made dinner, and drove Dave to church so he could teach his class. Then I'll drive him back home. By then I am sure *I* will be ready to crash into bed!

Sunday and Monday

9-3-07

Sunday we went to church. After a nap, we went to some friends' for supper. Then we went to the Wisconsin Highland Games at the Waukesha Expo to hear his brother's Gaelic band. It was wild to see all the guys in kilts (not the band, the people attending). Then we went to Thunder Bay Grill for dessert.

Monday I made my 75th trip to Walmart for school supplies, then we drove to Madison to see Daniel and Kristin and take a carload of stuff. We went to lunch at Unos and then dropped them off. It was good to see them settled in and ready to start the school year.

We came home and I took a nap and then did some watering in the garden and we walked the dog.

After a late supper I chilled for a bit and went to bed.

September 2, 2007

9-2-07

Saturday was a pretty typical day, just did some errands, laundry, and picking up around the house. We grilled salmon and potatoes for dinner then I took the dog for a walk and watched High School Musical, kinda cheesy, but cute.

September 1, 2007

9-1-07

Yesterday was my first whole day with my kids off to college. It was weird to wake up and find their beds empty. ; (

I spent the day doing all the usual stuff--laundry, grocery shopping.

Late in the afternoon, the living room furniture we ordered 3 months ago finally arrived. We had to do some rearranging to get it all in! The pieces are bigger than we remembered, 2 chairs and a sofa.

Then we went downtown to see Chris Botti and Diana Krall. The music was great! Our seats were not so good. I had a squirmy man in front of me who kept shifting around in his seat so I had to keep leaning way to the left or way to the right to see. They left about 5 songs before the end so I had a good view for the end of the concert.

Today is errands and cleaning up after the rearranging.

Here are some photos of the new furniture and new living room arrangement.