Friday's Progress Report

Hi There!

Remember that "Agenda" that I thought I'd force myself to do?

Well, I tried.  

I seriously did.

And all it did was make me miserable.

Monday was my Dear Jane day,

for example.

Tuesday morning, I would sit there and wish I could work on my DJ but Nooooo....  I "had" to work on Tuesday's project!

I've had previously taught myself to continue a quilty project until the end.  And that's how I manage to FINISH my projects!

This way, I felt like I was a butterfly, flittering from 1 flower to the next!

Sooooo, I've decided that the "Agenda" will be put into effect IF I have no other (recent) project that needs to be finished.

With this in mind, Gilbert quilted "Easy Al" yesterday and this morning, I will do the binding this morning

See?  I'll be able to brag that THIS quilt is finished!

*grin*

Gilbert took a picture of "Easy Al" on the frame,

once it was finished.

And yesterday, while Gilbert was quilting "Easy Al", I started sashing my Dear Jane blocks to make a good sized lap quilt and managed to add the outer borders, too!

Today, I'll add the label on the back and send it to my Longarmer.... 

(AKA Hubby or Gilbert)...

*grin*

For the past week, Gilbert and I have been searching for some Bumblebee fabric.  His daughter and her hubby are expecting their first child and have done the baby room in a bumblebee theme.

Do a Google search for Bumblebee fabric and chances are, you'll find the "Bee Happy" line by Henry Glass.  They have a GORGEOUS panel with coordinating fabrics, of course.

Well, we looked high and low, on the internet and ... do we order from a quilt store or from eBay?  Which had the better shipping?  Do they also have the coordinating fabric, to go around the panel, for the back of this baby quilt and for the binding?

Questions! Questions!

Along with...

Decisions.... Decisions....

Finally, I called up our local Fabricville and would you believe - they had the EXACT same panel, with coordinating fabrics?!??

Off to Fabricville to pick up the Bee Happy fabric panel as well as coordinating fabrics!

I was in Quilter's Heaven!!!!

(here, I've added borders to the panel...)

Here's a closeup of one of the bumblebees...

Gilbert and I just need to decide on what to put on the label.  

Then he will quilt his grandchild's quilt.

He said he'd probably do freehand "loops".

He thought it would represent the bee's flight.

Will post pictures later!

Have yourselves a Wonderful Weekend!!!

Rosa

Getting Organized - Progress Report

Hi There!

Remember, a while back, I decided to designate certain quilt projects for each day of the week?  Well, here's my progress report and my take on how this "Agenda" has been going.

Yesterday, was my "Dear Jane" day.  

Mind you, I also did errands and did laundry, etc, etc... but managed to finish 3 Dear Jane blocks.

Today, was my "Inklingo" day.

I hadn't done any Inklingo on my laptop, downstairs AND I got a new (Brother) printer in January(?) and had never used it for Inklingo purposes.

Anyhow, it took me about 1 hour to find the Inklingo pattern that I wanted, for my Rose Dream block.  I had to finally write to Linda Franz - I simply could NOT find it!

Soooo, another 1/2 an hour to decide on which quilt I wanted to make...

I mean... HONESTLY!!!!

Just take a LOOK at these gorgeous Rose Dream quilts!!!

And then, ANOTHER 1/2 hour or more, to find the perfect fabrics, in my stash!

By then, it was time for lunch!

Trust me - it never takes this long to print an Inklingo pattern!

Its just that everything that COULD go wrong, went "wrong" today!

*insert wry grin here*

Came back to my Sewing Studio and try and figure out the proper dimensions for this pattern.

Did I mention that I "thought" my ink cartridges were empty and we... I mean Gilbert put in new color cartridges?

FINALLY, at 3h30 I was had printed out a few shapes and managed to finish - almost - 1 of the 4 sections.

I was debating as to whether I should machine piece this quilt or hand piece it.

Hand piecing won!  

I want perfect seams and ... well... 

just a cute and perfect lap quilt!

Here's the pattern that I selected.

Cute, eh?

And who knows, eh?

I just might even hand quilt it, too!

*grin*

As to my feelings about designating certain days of the week to certain projects....  

I'm not really likin' it.  

For the past 2 years I've forced myself to concentrate on ONE project at a time .... 

And now, it feels like I'm jumping from 1 project to the next.  My heart is now yearning to work on and FINISH the previous day's project!

I'll figure it out.  

At least I'm never bored!

LOL!!!!

Have a Wonderful Wednesday!

Tomorrow's my "Asian Quilt".

Rosa

A Dear Jane Day

Hi There!

Well, as I had promised myself, I spent a good deal of time with my DJ polka dot blocks, today.

I had started these blocks in 2010 and, since then, I decided that I wanted a polka dot quilt done in a TATW (Trip Around The World) pattern and their colors were not "correct".

Sooooo, I trimmed these babies and put them on my design wall... Found some royal blue dotty fabric, for the sashing. As you can see, I need to make 2 more DJ blocks.

But that will have to wait till next Monday.

This will either be a table topper or a lap quilt. Dunno yet.

Rosa

Asleep At the Wheel? I think not!

 Hi There!

Just because I haven't been blogging,

doesn't mean that I have been

asleep at the wheel.

*grin*

Monday evening, 

I made B-4,

in the Dear Jane blocks.

 

Tuesday evening, I made THIS block...

I-2

 

And Wednesday,

I made L-7

 Yesterday evening - Thursday -

I decided to relax

and have a non-sewing evening.

Rosa

2 Evenings of Quilting = 1 Table Topper

Hi There!

I work in an office.

When I get home and
IF I'm lucky,
I get to sit in front of my
sewing machine.

Yesterday, I started pulling out my reds, ironing, cutting -
I was on a mission!

I wanted to re-create a Heart Table Topper,
with one of Bonnie Hunter's patterns.

This evening, at approx. 6 p.m.,
I had all my blocks pieced and
on my design wall!!!

I just need to sew the blocks together.
No biggie.



She had blogged, recently, on how she and other quilters had played with some blocks and came up with THIS gorgeous Heart quiltlette!

The PERFECT little table topper
for our kitchen!

And me that didn't care much for red....
before.

*grin*

BTW, did you notice my new heading?!??

My friend Marianna told me that she now has 42 tris (including 3 kites) to make, for her Dear Jane quilt. Remember - she's the one that asked that we "nag" her?!?!?

Well, this incredible circular design HAS 42 triangles!!!

Imagine that, eh?

Sooooooo,
I changed (temporarily) the title of my blog,
as well!

Hope this helps her to make more triangles...

We could almost call this her
"Wall of Shame"?!??

UPDATE:
Nope... as Pat commented,
it's her Wall of Encouragement,
Marianna!!!

Seriously, I know she's been working hard at finishing her triangles....

Care to visit her blog
and encourage her?

Marianna's blog.
(it's bilingual)

Have a great week!

Rosa

Just For You, Marianna!!!

Hi There!

My friend, Marianna, has completed ALL of her Dear Jane blocks and is now working on her triangles. She's asked her "Buddette" friends to "nag" her... to help her to keep motivated. We're taking turns to "nag" her (AKA encourage her).

Soooo, I've found a few funny pics on the internet and I've been more than happy to pass them on to Marianna, every other day or so...

*grin*



But, this morning, I started thinking that perhaps if I dangle a carrot in front of her, with a promise that I would give her something "special" IF she completed her triangle-du-jour.... well, perhaps, Marianna would try harder and finish her piece.

(NOTE: Gilbert helped with this...)

Well, I'm pleased to tell you that "YES!!!!
She DID complete a triangle, today!!!"

And here's your special surprise, Marianna....



Marianna - this one's for you!!!

Rosa

Project Update - 22 May '11

Hi There!

Do you sometimes feel like that poor hamster? Running around, all the time, in it's wheel and not going anywhere?

Well, that's how I've felt in the past month or so. Yes, I work on projects but they're either long-term projects or, for whatever reason.... I can't actually "finish" them and put them to rest.

Anyhow, here's at least ONE project that I got to finish and mail off to special friends.

These are wooden Dear Jane blocks that I painted and varnished. Gilbert added a magnet on the back.

NOTE: my painted melons are the same as my fabric melons.... NOT PERFECT!!! LOL

This mini quilt was finished a while back but Gilbert and Bertha were both busy with other clients' quilts and couldn't take the time to actually quilt it. Yesterday, with my most winning smile, he and Bertha quilted it.



It's cross hatched with ivory thread.

The blocks are 1-1/2 inches each. Total quilt size with probably finish at 12" square.

But here's the kicker: Once I've bound this quilt, I can proudly tell you that there will be ONE HUNDRED ONE (101) different Civil War fabrics on this 12" X 12" quilt!!!!

Neat eh?



So, since we were "supposed" to see the end of the world, Gilbert and I decided to have our "special" drinks, before 10 p.m. our time. *grin*

I had this drink, while in Florida. It's called a "Blue Ocean" and while there are different recipes for this on the net -some with rather complicated or exotic-to-me ingredients - I decided to make up my own recipe, each weekend, until I have the right recipe for me.
(Gilbert and I usually have one special drink, during the weekend.)

Gilbert's a martini man - what can I say?

Yesterday evening's drink had:

1 shot of Blue Curaco
1 shot of Malibu Coconut Rum
7 Up - approx. 1/2 a cup.
1 cherry

BTW, although Blue Curaco looks like a watered down version of blueberries, it smells and tastes like oranges.

It was delish, but I'll add pineapple juice, next time. Should be interesting. *s*

Anyhow, it's now almost 9 a.m.

Gotta go wash my hair. My sister is picking me up. We're having a Mother/Daughters Day at one of our garden centers.

I'll blog about it later.

Have a great Sunday!

Rosa

What Have I Been Up To?!??

Hi There!

What have I been up to?

Well, let's see....

Saturday morning, Gilbert and I did our Saturday errands. Once we got back home, I went to work on my spider blocks.

And all day Sunday, I worked on these blocks.

I can now say that I have 3 rows finished and pieced together.

I've got 3 more rows to do, before we remove the paper, on the back and Gilbert starts quilting this lap/wall quilt.

Saturday evening, Gilbert and I watched a movie and I put a base case of ivory, on my Dear Jane wooden blocks.
(more to come, later)



I think I already mentioned, but we have a few stray cats, hanging around outside. Gilbert and I made the mistake of starting to feed them and now, our stray population seems to have grown, unfortunately.

Most of these cats DO look like strays, but recently we've had THIS one come to our back door.

Riel, a blogging friend, came by yesterday evening and exclaimed, "Oh, that's a gorgeous Himalayan cat!"

HUH?

Never heard of such a cat...

This evening, since I had the wind knocked out of my sails and I didn't want to work on my Spider Quilt, I decided to work on a (kinda) new project.

I had picked up this quilt kit 5 or 6 years ago.

10 bucks for a queen sized quilt top.

Its made with non-shop quality fabric but it was a good idea and good price, at the time.

Not sure what I'll do with it.

But, in one evening, I managed to sew 7 rows!

Half way there and I didn't even break out in a sweat!

LOL

Hope you're having a Magnificent Monday!

Rosa

DJ Block and H2H Blocks

Hi There!

Well, I re-signed up, once again, with Elly's BOW (Block Of the Week) and since today IS the deadline and I hadn't made A-7 (Dad's Plaid), yet.... I really didn't have an excuse, did I?!?!?

So, my friend, Elly.... here's my A-7

Okay, remember a while back, when I was in the Heart 2 Heart Block swap?

Well, apparently, these heart blocks that were quietly languishing in a (clean) pizza box, in my closet were considered UFOs - imagine that, eh?!?!?

Sooooo, since Valentine is just around the corner and we took off our vinyl Christmas table cloth AND our kitchen table looks bare, I decided to put together a table quilt, with these hearts.

The only problem is... is that I didn't realize how MANY gorgeous hearts I had!

*VBG*



Soooo, I took out the darkest red ones. These will go into my table quilt.

"What will I do with the other ones?", you ask.

Well, if you were in that swap, you might be one of the lucky contestants to appear in my "Heart 2 Heart" quilt, that's not pieced together yet, but will be in our local quilt guilt show, in October.
(stayed tuned for more...)

For now, here's the ones that I've selected to go in our table quilt.



I'll be posting more pics, as I move along on this project. *s*

Meanwhile, I've finally finished this crumb quilt.

Gilbert has a Valentine's panel to quilt for me, first and then, he'll be doing this one.



And yes, folks, there's now THIRTY-FOUR days left, till I leave for my once in a lifetime dream vacation to Florida!!!!

(Friends + Quilting = Dream Vacation)

*VBG*

Back to work, tomorrow...

Have a great week!!!

Rosa

Call Me a Donkey!

Hi There!

Confession time....

Okay, I'm weak and I'm human.

I'm not brave and I'm not strong.

I need "incentives" ....
just like a donkey,
I need a carrot in front of my nose.

*grin*

I managed to finish my Dear Jane quilt
'cause at every 50 blocks or so,
you got a new "title".

Since I've COMPLETELY
finished my Dear Jane quilt,
I'm now a "Goddess" or "Queen".

Sounds silly?
You betcha!

But, that's what kept me going!



I've joined "Curves" and I think I will keep it up
'cause at every so many visits, you get a free t-shirt!

Once again, I could easily skip the visits
and go to a store and buy a darn t-shirt,
but it's not the same thing!

This one is FREE and it has the amount of visits
on the front of the t-shirt!

*VBG*



Here's my next "carrot"....

It's called the
"Rughookers' Merit Program".

You pay an inscription fee and you get this real cute sheep pin.

As you finish each "Award" level, you get a cute "stone".

Did I mention that I LOVE bling?!?!?

And what's cuter than sheep, eh?!??!

Anyhow, I've included a button, to the right of my blog page.

Click on the sheep button and you'll go
to my hooking web page
and see where I'm at... with the Merit Program.

Back to work tomorrow....

Rosa

Dots Me Jane

Hi There!

Even though I haven't shared my "Dots Me Jane" blocks, doesn't mean I haven't been busy... Okay, I had committed myself to doing 7 blocks per week and I haven't followed through with it, but at least I'm doing the BOW and still have full intentions of putting my foot to the pedal, with these cuties and PRODUCING them...

I'll keep you posted on this... *grin*

Here's the toughest block, IMHO -
G-6 = Papa's Star



The week afterwards,
I made the EASTIES one, IMHO..

D-13 = Field of Dreams

In fact, this block is usually used at the
Dear Jane "Signature" block.

It kinda feels weird doing this block
and not signing anything in the middle of it...

LOL

This one was last week's BOW:

C-12 = Family Reunion

And I've replaced this week's BOW with this one...

E-10 = Five & Dime

Rosa

And 3 more DJ blocks...

Hi There!

This afternoon, I managed to finish this week's BOW (Block Of the Week).

D-6 - Challenge



And then, because I was in the mood,
I made 2 more blocks:

F-4 = Old Windmill
(Thanks Rebecca H. !!!)

And here's G-4 = Shutter Bug)
(Thanks Rosemary D.!!!)

And with these last three, I can now proudly announce that I now have 27 DJ blocks!!!

*VBG*

Rosa

Another UFO done!

Hi There!

Well, yes, it IS a panel, yet Gilbert longarmed it and it's a gifty to one of my sisters.... And YES, I finally finished the binding and I've added a label, on the back.

Soooo, in my books,
it's no longer a UFO
(Un-Finished Object), but a
FO (Finished Object)!



This was finished on Sunday afternoon.

And Sunday, I also managed to finish this block 'cept for the last strip.

A-1 - Pinwheel Gone Awry
(28 pieces)

Yesterday, Monday, right after work, I went into my sewing room and finished that block and managed to finish this cute little pink one, too!

A-2 = One Two Buckle My Shoe
(40 pieces) !!!

Imagine? this 4-1/2 inch block has FORTY pieces?!?!? Some complete, FULL SIZED quilts don't even have that many pieces, in it's entirety!

What's on my Design Wall, now?

Well, this evening, I dug out my crumb blocks and put them up on my wall. Funny how I just LOVE making those blocks, but HATE piecing them all together, eh?

I think it might be the setting that I selected for them - "on point".
*shudder*

Anyhow, I'll finish it off and Gilbert will longarm it, for me and it'll be finished.... but, I'm not there, yet.

*s*

And, tomorrow's Wednesday - E & J Day!

Have a great Wednesday!

Rosa

Let Me Introduce Hunter's Moon

Hi there!

When I did my first Dear Jane quilt, I had the hardest time with this block:
A-3 = Hunter's Moon.

This one became one of my bloopers.

Gilbert even tried to stretch it in the opposite direction and it STILL didn't come out "round"!

LOL



My 2nd and final attempt came out a bit better. This one is in my first DJ quilt.

As you all know, I'm making a SECOND Dear Jane quilt in polka dots. And you might call this cheating or being lazy, or whatever... I really don't give a hoot on this - I machine appliqued this one, but OH MY GOD, I think it turned out almost perfect.... for me, anyhow!

LOL

(Rosemary - recognize the fabric?!??! *grin*)

This morning, I decided to start and finish the BOM (Block Of the Month) that I've signed up for, at our local quilt shop.

Here's a shot of all the BOM's that I've done, so far...

And here's this month's:

I just LOVE these soft pastel colours!

Have a GREAT week!

Rosa