Category: quilting

daily life · dogs · home improvement · longarm quilting · Lulu · NASCAR · quilting · remodeling

Busy Saturday

Wild Rose Quilter4 Comments

Today started off like normal, with coffee 🙂 , only not as early as most days.  Then I had to do emergency grooming on Lulu.  She is having a horrible time with allergies this year.  I have already taken her for shots, but she keeps itching.  Yesterday, while we were at work, she apparently scratched under her chin til she made a large hot spot.  I didn’t notice it til yesterday evening.  DH made a quick trip to the grocery store to see what we could get, came home with medicated shampoo, and a couple bottles of stuff that is supposed to help.  We cleaned up the area last night, as best as we could, and put medicine on it, and little socks on her back feet to try to minimize her scratching.  This morning, I got the clippers out, and cut all her hair as short as I could, bathed her with the medicated shampoo, doctored her up, and have spoiled & pampered her as much as possible today.  I will call the vet Monday and get her back in for more shots.  Poor baby.

Also, I worked on our entryway hallway some more.  I am almost done with the texturing…one more coat on one side and it will be ready for paint as soon as it’s all dried out.  I finished Kilz-ing the paneling on the bottom half of the walls, and got one side painted.  The new color looks really nice, I think. 

Also, I went to the shop with DH, and we pulled out a retail gondola shelf that he had disassembled and stored in the back.  We cleaned it up and put it together, and filled it up with my packages of Quilter’s Dream batting.  Now to get the word out to the local quilters that we have it available in the shop.

I am excited to report that I have found a group of longarmers that meets once a month, and I have been invited to go to their meetings.  It’s a two hour drive for me, but I am really looking forward to going and meeting them.  This month’s meeting was today, and I was hoping to get to go, but with Lulu like she was, I wasn’t about to leave her.  Hopefully, I will get to go next month.  I found them through one of our local deputies.  Since I work in the adult probation office, we visit often, and he knows about my quilting.  His mom is a longarmer, and the meetings are in her shop.  He talked to his mom and got me invited. 

Oh! I had a wonderful surprise this morning while drinking my coffee and surfing the blogs I like to keep up with.  Gina had a contest on her blog, on her birthday.  I won the drawing!  How fun!  I need to think of a contest for my blog.  Maybe a celebration contest when I hit 10,000 views.  This is the 2nd blog contest I have won.  Earlier this year I won some of Gayle’s gorgeous hand dyed fabrics.  Hmmm…maybe I need to be buying more lottery tickets 🙂 !

The NASCAR race is on, so I must get back to watching!  My favorite driver is Bobby Labonte.  He is driving with lots of pink on his car tonight for breast cancer awareness.  I am calling it the Boobie Cure Car! Go Bobby in the Boobie Cure Car!

applique · quilting

What am I thinking???

Wild Rose Quilter10 Comments

Someone, slap me upside the head with a fat quarter!  WHY am I dragging fabrics out of the stash to start another project?  Seriously, why?? Do I not have enough other projects going on that I need to be working on? So what is this pile of fabric doing in my quilting room floor, hoping to become part of this wallhanging? I think I have a problem…QADD (Quilter’s Attention Deficit Disorder) 🙂

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daily life · quilting

Not much sewing going on

Wild Rose Quilter3 Comments

I am sitting here drinking my coffee, before I go get ready for work.  How would I ever get my day started without my coffee!? I took a couple of vacation days Friday and Monday.  We left Friday afternoon to head up to Nebraska to visit my oldest stepdaughter and her family.  They have purchased their first home and we had a great time going to see them and it.  I had a little, bitty shadow the whole time I was there.  I wish I had remembered to take my camera.  Miss Caitlynn will be three in December and she is a doll.  She went everywhere I went, even sleeping with me the last night.  Her two big brothers are growing up so fast and are in a new school this year, and doing great.  It was wonderful to get to spend time with them.  We had to be back Sunday evening for a class my son has been taking at church.  But Monday morning, we got up and drove to Amarillo to go shopping.  I don’t know if it’s the changing season or what, but the “home improvement bug” seems to have bitten me.  We went to Lowe’s and Home Depot.  I got two new light fixtures and a new ceiling fan/light for the bedroom.  DH installed one of the new light fixtures in the entryway last night.  I picked up paint sample cards and I think I have decided on new colors for the entryway, and eventually the living room.  My son announced that he wants to change his bedroom (again) from his current Texas Longhorn theme, to a dark blue, dark brown, cream color scheme.  As soon as the words are out of his mouth, I am already imagining the fabulous quilt I can make in those colors and he says “I don’t want a quilt, I want a comfortor! I want something fluffy”.  How can this be? Is that really what MY child said???  :-0  Oh well, I’m still planning the quilt…it can go on top of the “fluffy” thing 😉 .  I am also really in the mood to be sewing and creating…although I haven’t done any of that since last week. 

And now that Kim Stotsenberg’s new book is finally out, I can say how excited, surprised, and honored I was when she asked me if she could include a picture of a wallhanging I quilted in her book! And she sent me my very own copy as a gift. Thank you, Kim!

And now my coffee is almost gone and I MUST get up from here and go get dressed for the office.  Later taters!

longarm quilting · machine quilting · NASCAR · quilt top · quilting · quilts

Waaaa!! It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to!

Wild Rose Quilter5 Comments

Ok, yesterday it was Kay, today it’s me 😦 .  I’m doing the dreaded “f” word.  Yep, frogging.  It was supposed to be a quickie, easy peasy little money maker.  42″ wallhanging with Leaf Pile panto.  How hard can that be?  Well, apparently pretty difficult.  My customer requested a variegated with colors in the fabrics.  I have a cone of Signature Autumn, and the colors in it are PERFECT.  But, it’s a Tex 50.  I’m not experienced with this thread, so I filled  a bobbin with Tex 40 Signature in Camel.  I thought I had the tension set pretty good…did some practice stitches first and tweaked it, took off stitching.  First problem was a thread break.  Fixed that, then noticed that the pokies on top are pretty bad.  Looks great on the back.  I’m frogging the whole first row.  Thank goodness it’s only 42″ and not 102″.  So, I’m sure it’s a tension balance thing, and I went back to my practice sandwich, and have it looking good on top there, but then I look at the bottom, and the pokies have moved down there.  GRRRR…maybe I just need to give up and use a pretty Rainbow I have that will work with this top, also.  I also tried filling a bobbin with the variegated, and try to match the bobbin color with what was coming off the top at the same time, but that didn’t work and I had worse pokies.  Is it possible to run variegated in top and bottom without ANY pokies?  I hate pokies.  

Right now, I’m leaving it alone for awhile, to watch the NASCAR race and work on piecing my borders for Carrie & John’s quilt.  I got the entire center pieced together yesterday and am quite happy with it.  Wonder if I will see Diane on TV today? 

This is the center of the quilt, before I got the last row added.

brand2.JPGcarrie.JPG

And, on another bright note, I now have the starry log cabin block countdown under twenty!

applique · daily life · family · NASCAR · quilting

Haircut

Wild Rose Quilter10 Comments

At the start of the day yesterday, I had a fairly long ponytail.  No more! I got a fun, new haircut yesterday afternoon.  I’m really bad about getting a new cut, color, etc., then not going back for six months or more.  I’m not good at the “maintenance” part.  Hard to find that “pamper me” time.  In fact, I needed my roots redone yesterday, but didn’t want to take time for that, so I will just have salt & pepper roots for a little while.  I’m kinda curious to see just how much more gray is up there now, anyhow.

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I did jump in and get started on the applique yesterday.  So far, so good.  Not perfect, but looking good.  I’ll post pics when I get it finished. Have a great weekend! I hope my friend Diane has the best birthday ever, and that Jr. wins while she is there watching!

For those just now reading this, if it doesn’t make sense with some of the replies, I edited it to remove some content.  Had an unusual “visitor”,  so I removed a pic that was here earlier.  No, Poodle, I’m not referring to you…LOL.  Anyway, probably me just being overly cautious…

applique · quilt top · quilting · quilts

Need Some Applique Advice

Wild Rose Quilter2 Comments

Ok, applique gurus…I would love some input from you.  I am to the applique stage on my cousin’s log cabin.  Right now, I think my plan is to do fusible with satin stitch on the edges.  Or would you recommend a different method?  This quilt, though I’m sure it will be well cared for, will be used.  It is intended for their bed.  This is the applique pattern I am to use.  It is their cattle brand.

brand.JPG It will go here, in the pieced center of the log cabin quilt, barn raising layout.

lccenter.JPG Another question is that I do not have the right color of embroidery thread.  The applique will be done in the darkest of the browns I am using in the logs.  I do, however, have the right color in Signature cotton machine quilting thread.  Any reason not to use it for the satin stitching?  Do I need to wait til I can get the right color of brown embroidery thread?

Thanks for any help! I really want to get this right the first try!

butterflies · caterpillars · longarm quilting · machine quilting · quilt top · quilting · quilts · sewing

Making Progress!

Wild Rose Quilter2 Comments

My starry log cabin countdown is now under 30!  Woohoo! I have all the blocks for my cousin’s quilt completed.  Now to sew the middle section together and figure out the applique. I’m worried about that part and will be glad to get it done (successfully) and behind me.  Then to put it all together and quilt! Oh!  I also got my UFO finished for the MQR challenge.  I’ve already picked out the one for October. 

In caterpillar news, my parsley finally started growing really well and I now have some big fat cats on it!  They are so cute. I hope they live to find their wings and become beautiful butterflies!

daily life · longarm quilting · machine quilting · quilt top · quilting · quilts

Busy as a Bee

Wild Rose Quilter9 Comments

I feel like I’m neglecting my blog lately, but I have been so BUSY!  I took in three customer tops this week, plus I’m still working on my cousin’s quilt, my starry log cabin, and I’m trying to finish a UFO for the September UFO challenge.  In between that, I’m putting in eight hours a day at my day job, going to my son’s fall golf tournaments, cleaning house, working on my minor remodeling projects, cooking dinners, doing laundry, taking care of the pets….hmmm…you get the picture… :-). So, if I’m a little quieter than usual, you know why!  I’m working on a cute lap quilt for the local guild president.  It’s made from adorable fabrics and it’s the sample for a retreat they are having the first weekend in October.  I’m doing  a cute, fun, freehand overall on it with Rainbows thread.  Here’s a little peek.

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