design mattress monday . . .

Yay! I laid out my hexagons to see how it's looking and what I needed to do next. I love the splash of colors! They are so bright and pretty.

I think I need to do at least one more row with my taupe solid on the outside, like the second row (from the left, below).

Some of those blocks are still unsewn triangles. I'm getting there, though! It needs two more rows of hexagons overall, and then it'll be ready-freddy!

Don't forget to head over to Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times to see what folks have on their design *whatevers* this week!

In non-quilting life, check out this picture:

Can you figure it out? It's an upside down picture. The trees and sky are actually the reflection from the pond. That's why there are leaves and grass above blue sky. I love pond reflections; they captivate me!

Todd and I took a minnow mission trip yesterday afternoon. We didn't get a humongous catch, but we did get a humongous minnow . . .

I think that it may be the Hulk Hogan of minnows!

Yesterday morning, this dapper fellow joined us for breakfast. We were having eggs, bacon and banana muffins. He was having pecans.

He's well-camouflaged, isn't he? I think the only reason I caught him was because he kept racing down the tree to get another pecan. He was a fatty!

Have a glorious day--I know I will. I'm off to spend time with my grandbaby!

:)

all sewn out . . .

What a fun evening I had, even if it wasn't *super* productive. I'm not my creative best in the evenings anyways, and generally by Friday night, I'm just downright pooped! Don't get me wrong; I can stay up -- I just have a hard time focusing. LOL! Mindless movies and internet surfing are more my evening speed. Ask my husband -- he has a hard time getting my day out of me when I got home at night. My brain just quits!

That being said, I did manage to make some progress with my hexagons!

Look at all these lovelies! I am so loving these colors.

So that set is all sewn, ready to be pressed. Hurrah!

I got my next set of strips sewn and pressed.

And then they went under the ruler . . .

I'm so 'in like' with this ruler! It's so much fun. I do admit I have to be really careful or it moves on me and I don't have equilateral triangles any more. Ooops!

So now my solids/patterned triangles are all cut and cute and ready to be assembled.

They will make either these cute little separator hexagons . . .

Or these fun, funky hexagons . . .

Which don't even look like hexagons because of their funkiness!

And I'm left with a huge pile of these. Triangle orphans, I'm calling them.

Don't worry little triangle orphans! I will find a way to use you! I'm thinking little mixed up hexie pillows. Since this quilt is for a pre-teen girl, I think that would be FUN!

So my long list of possibilities for last night ended up being just that. Possibility instead of reality. *sigh* I really should put up the hexagons and work on CHRISTMAS presents. LOL! Especially if I'm going to meet one of my Charming Girls goals for this month. Yikes!

For now, there's a big day ahead, full of fun, non-quilting things: like daughters and grandbabies (for a bit) and tea and ballet and THE GRINCH!!! I've been listening to Christmas music all morning -- I'm so in the mood!

And my man is on his way home from work and I promised him French toast and bacon for breakfast. Better get to scooting!

Glad tidings!

:)

design wall monday; slow but steady . . .

C'est la vie. I didn't get as far as I had hoped on my quilting projects this week, but I did make some progress -- and I got to sew, so I'm happy!

One nice thing? I got the room organized so that Todd and I can both be at our respective tables at the same time. We actually spent yesterday evening together in the bunkroom; him at his desk on the laptop, and me at my table with the sewing machine! It was quite lovely.

It was Todd who suggested I lower the ironing board, so I could just turn in my chair from the sewing machine to iron. He's *brilliant*! Why have I never thought of this? I was so happy, sewing and pressing and sewing, without having to get up! LOL!

I did purchase my (nearly) solid fabric for the last hexagons I need to cut . . .

I think the print is small and delicate enough that it will be okay. I'll try and cut/sew/cut those triangles out sometime this week -- maybe Tuesday?

I also got these strips sewn and cut; they're ready to be pieced into the halves.

I'll *try* to get to those this week too, but I'm not promising myself anything! Until now I was doing this quilt just to do it, but now I've got a recipient in mind, so that will make it even more fun!

I finished piecing the other three Arrowhead blocks . . . I love how they turned out!

Although now that I've finished them, I'm not sure what I'll do with them! I only did them in the first place because I was succumbing to peer pressure! Perhaps I'll just put them away for now, and pull them out again after Christmas -- and after grandbaby two arrives!

Speaking of which, Jocelyn and I went online yesterday and did pick out her fabrics -- so cute! It's from Adornit's Life's a Hoot line.

She saw it in a store in Seattle and fell in love with it! We'll do bumper pads, curtains, and a quilt. Fun stuff!

To see what other projects are being worked on out there, head on over to Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times!

As for me, I'm headed out to spend the day with my Sawyer. Yay for me! Crock pot is in hand -- tonight's dinner will feature one of our family's favorites -- pork tenderloin with sauerkraut!

Hasta la vista!

:)

marching one step closer . . .

"Marching" was my segue word for transitioning from Veteran's Day back to quilting. I'm so clever I amaze myself. Ahem.

But I am closer to being ready for some big sewing on Saturday. Tonight's star was this guy:

And I don't know why I refer to my iron as a 'him', but he is, so there you have it. He worked hard tonight.

Now I know this all looks like the same photos from Tuesday, but I promise you, these are all neatly pressed.

Crisp and flat. Ready for some design wall, these pieces are.

These pieces are definitely ready to hit the sewing machine!

All those pretty, pressed points!

These little babies looked so good, I could resist working with them a little longer.

Yep. I went ahead and pulled out the triangle ruler and cut out all my triangles.

These are ready for stitching on Saturday, too. If I can wait that long!

Tomorrow after work I'll take a trip to the fabric shop to see if I can find a solid I like for the last set of hexagons I need to cut. Yeah, and once those are done? This thing really *will* be ready for the design wall! WOW!

For now, sweet, quilty dreams!

:)

cruddy, but not unproductive . . .

I woke up yesterday morning feeling downright cruddy. I'd hit the trifecta of cruddiness - sinuses, some cold/allergy thing, and an asthma episode. Blah. I suppose I could have pulled it together and gone to work, but I'd just have been miserable, so instead, I called in. I hate calling in sick. Not including this summer when I was out with my accident, and then with the spider bite, I've called in sick *maybe* six times in the last 13 years. Including today. I'm not a call-in-sick kind of person.

Anyway, I was at that spot where I couldn't lay in bed any longer, so I got up and let Todd baby me by making my coffee, then our breakfast (he's such a darling husband). I took some medicine and started to feel a little clearer-headed, and there were still things that needed tending to, so I got dressed and started tending. I put some laundry in, did some dishes, and then went back to my sewing table while I waited for the washer/dryer to finish.

I went ahead and stitched up the extra set of hexagon sides I'd played with last week.

I really to like that layout a lot!

Then I went ahead and stitched up my strips, so they're ready to cut into triangles.

I think this grouping will be very pretty in the hexagons I'm going to use them in.

Then, since I was just sitting there anyway, I went ahead and put together the other three sets of Christmas fabric I'd cut for the Arrowhead block.

This block is so very easy. Sew, cut, press and piece. I love it!

Of the four blocks I did, I think this combination of fabrics was my favorite:

It still blows my mind that someone thought of this method! It's so cool!

All cut and ready! One thing's for sure; I've got a LOT of pressing to do before I can do any more work on any of these projects!

Since I had the mat and rotary cutter out, I went ahead and cut out my DVD faces, too.

I've gotten a lot of new DVDs over the past couple of months, and I've not been good about putting them in my DVD binder. The DVD cases take up too much precious room, so I cut out the front face using my 4.5" square, and then file them alphabetically in the DVD binder.

Like I said, I've gotten a bunch in the past few months. :)

Last, but not least, I printed out a template to cut and use for my yo-yo snowmen, which I think will look very darling on Christmas tea towels.

And then I took a NAP! Gosh, I should have, shouldn't I? Imagine what I could have accomplished yesterday if I was feeling good! Haha -- I'd have accomplished nothing (at home, anyway); I'd have been at work! :) I did slow down in the afternoon and rested on the couch. And while I canceled my physical therapy and didn't go to my Stitcher's Group get-together, I did make a good dinner, so I'll call it even. After a restful night's sleep, I'm feeling much better today!

Forward. March!

:)

design wall monday; rut roh . . .

I haven't done much with what was already on my design wall last week, and I've compounded that by starting some new things, willy-nilly. I roll like that! I get completely inspired -- on a whim -- and take off! Unfortunately for me (and my UFO drawer), inspiration does not always equal completion. LOL!

I had seen a darling idea using yo-yo's to make a snowman (e-Patterns Central). While it was a great idea for a placemat and matching napkin ring, I thought it would be even cuter for a bib! I'd never done yo-yo's before, but it wasn't too hard, and I whipped out three.

Now I can't decide whether the red above, or the green below should be the front. Or perhaps I do something on *both* sides and make it reversible?!?! I think the embroidered arms *may* show up better on the red. I dunno. Any thoughts?

I do like the red & green polka-dots I'm going to use to trim it out. Fun! I need to get the buttons and orange felt for the embellishments. Tomorrow night is our Stitcher's Group meeting; I think I'll work on yo-yo's! I don't have any other handwork to play with! I'll do up a bunch of snowman decorated tea towels to give as hostess gifts through the Christmas season!

Then there's the Arrowhead block that so MANY of you had on your design walls last Monday. I was compelled to go out and get the magazine (Quiltmaker), and try it out -- I'm so not immune to peer pressure. My first block, along with pairings for three more, are still sitting, waiting for my attention.

I've seriously considered paring down the dimensions and using the big block in a center, surrounded by smaller blocks -- for a table topper. LOL! I know -- I'm into table toppers. Hey, I live in an RV! Small is good! :)

Then these pretties are still where I left them . . . waiting for the rest of the hexagons to be pieced.

I did play with those leftovers and came up with this design, which I like:

I wasn't sure why this look appealed to me so, until I looked more closely at this one:

There's something about this . . . I can almost make it out. Hmmm.

Okay. Let's play around and see what happens when I make the whole center the same color.

It looks like a hard candy in a wrapper!! See?!? Wouldn't this be a cute Christmas quilt, with green and red candies, surrounded by white or something?!? HA! This is my problem. I find something else to do before I've finished what I've got before me!! Too many ideas, and not enough people to do the work for me!! LOL! I guess though, this is why there are design walls, non?

Finally, I do have my strips paired and ready to put together so I can stitch and get out my fun, funky ruler for a new set of triangles . . .

Although, given how busy this weekend was, and how busy this week is already looking, this my be my design wall for next week, too!!

Today, I get to spend with my little darling grandson! Whoohoo! I'll ask him his preference on the bib.

Don't forget to head over to Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times to see what other inspired quilters are working on this week!!

:)

design wall monday; long time coming . . .

I've really had an active week of quilting and quilting projects (finally)! I had a great time at our stitch group's stitch-in on Saturday; I worked on and finished my Candy Corn Table Topper. It's the first project I've created that I've created a tutorial for, as well! Check it out in yesterday's post, HERE!

Then finally, after months of waiting and waiting -- some procrastination, some unable to sew, some waiting on the proper tools -- I've finally started on my hexagon quilt along! (Never mind that the actual quilt along, found HERE on Jaybird Quilts, was over ages ago - June 13th, to be exact!)

I've cut out stitched my first set of hexagons (instructions here). But, as per the instructions, I have not sewn the halves together. Today I'll work on the second set of blocks (instructions here).

I'm loving working with the jelly roll strips . . .

And the layer cake!

But I'm *really* digging this fabric, Moda's Boutique by Chez Moi. Cute, cute, CUTENESS!

I'm also really digging this new ruler that I bought specifically for this project. You should see me cutting triangles! I was just whizzing long. I'm very impressed with this ruler!

In less than an hour, I had sewn together five sets of strips from my jelly roll, and cut them into triangles . . .

I'll finish playing around with these today, too!

Also, don't forget to check out Judy Laquidara's blog, Patchwork Times, to see what other fun projects quilters are working on!

Happily I sew along . . .

:)