longarm quilting · machine quilting · quilt top · quilting · quilts · stash busting

Stash & Progress Report


First, I will get my complaining and whining out of the way.  I had great intentions to get so much accomplished this weekend.  Then wham! Wake up Saturday morning, early, with a headache.  Get up, take Imitrex, back to bed, next time I wake up it is after 9! And I still feel cruddy.  Head is better, but I feel cruddy, sluggish, achy all over.  So needless to say, my Saturday wasn’t what I hoped it to be.  I did manage to get the cute piggie quilt finished and ready to be delivered this week. Today, I felt better, but my shoulder & rib pain has really been ramped up the last few days, as well as my allergies.  Some of you know the latest on my issues with my shoulder blade & ribs, but for those that don’t, I am now seeing a physical therapist, at the urging of my chiropractor.  I had my evaluation with her Wednesday, and she agrees that it is not normal, the way my shoulder blade is moving.   No one can really figure out WHY I am having the issues I am having, which is frustrating.

I go back next Wednesday, and she is going to show me how to tape my shoulder blade, to try to stabilize it, and will have some exercises for me then, also. She has had one other patient in her eleven years that had similar symptoms. She said my shoulder blade is the only one she has felt doing what mine is doing. Apparently, it is moving around way more than it should, and going where it shouldn’t. And, my chiro has to keep putting my stupid ribs back in place. My entire right side rib cage is lower than the left, and there are three that keep “popping out of place”. He can get them back, and within days, they are out again. My shoulder blade sounds like it is grinding against bone. It sounds, and feels, terrible. Pain ranges from moderate to excruciating, and is near constant. I also think it causes some of my migraines. The PT said she hopes that we can get some improvement, but that it will probably never be all the way better. But some better is better than none better.  Sorry to bore you with all that, but you never know when someone else might be having the same problems, and either you help them with sharing your information, or they might help you with some advice or answers you haven’t found yet.

So now, back to stash reporting.  After today, my stash amount busted is now back in the positive for the year.  A whopping 4.25 yards!  I busted another 4 yds. this week, backing the comfort quilt for our friend with breast cancer.  I got the quilting finished on it today.

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I love the pink thread over the cream strips.

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I also managed to get zippers attached to my leaders on my longarm.  I hope I like using them.  I did NOT enjoy the process of attaching them! But they are on, and I am looking forward to giving them a try.

I’m looking forward to getting started on my next customer quilt, but I still have some finalizing of the quilting plan to finish.  Joanna, I hope to be sending you some more ideas over the next day or two, if all goes as planned.  I will try very hard to be able to get started on it this coming weekend.

Speaking of weekend, I am sad that it is almost over already, especially since I wasted most of Saturday, just trying to feel better.  Oh well.  Have a blessed & wonderful week y’all!

pretty fabric · quilt top · quilting · quilts · stash busting

I just kept sewing yesterday!


By the time yesterday was done,  I had worked a bit on FIVE different quilts.  Well six, if you count the prep work on a customer top I’m fixing to start quilting.  But I made a little bit of progress on five of my own WIP’s.  Yay!

I made great headway on my Boston Commons.  I have one more row like these, then adding white fabric around and between, a pieced border, and then I am going to add an additional plain border all around so I have some more space to quilt feathers in.  The original pattern, which is by Darlene Zimmerman, ends with a narrow border of the the squares and white triangles.

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While I was sewing Gracie’s Star together, and while I was piecing on the above quilt, I worked on my leaders/enders quilt, Oklahoma Backroads, and I had my embroidery machine running, cranking out some blocks for a red & white Christmas quilt.

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And then, when I went to bed, I took my 9P & stripe quilt with me, and worked on knotting and burying some of the thread tails I left on it.  I should have done it while I was going along on it…now it feel like I will never get them all done.  😦  I’m glad I decided to go back to a backtack before I finished.  And I still have to bind it!

I did get my backing and binding picked out for Gracie’s Star.  Now I just have to decide on which quilting pattern I want to use.  I think it’s a bit dark & busy to spend a lot of time on custom, but a pretty allover will finish it off nicely.

The first part of this year I just kept starting new projects.  Maybe this last part will be about finishing!  I would like to finish these projects I have started with my stash fabrics!

freehand quilting · longarm quilting · quilt top · quilting · quilts

Sewing, sewing sewing!


It may go into remission occasionally, but that Quilting Fever always comes back!  Gracie’s Star is now a flimsy!  I have to pick out my backing fabric and an allover quilting pattern for it.  I’m going to use Quilter’s Dream deluxe cotton batting.  It will be cozy!

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And I quilted this cute pumpkin table topper for my friend, Betty.  If you are reading, I hope you like it, Betty Lou!  I will bring it to you Tuesday, unless you want to swing by and get it sooner.

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Trying to decide which project I want to work on next, while I’m on such a good roll!

longarm quilting · machine quilting · quilting · quilts · stash busting · stencil quilting

Sunday Reporting!


Hi y’all! I’m back from our trip.  Golf was not kind to my son last week.  But he kept an amazing attitude the whole time.  I am so proud of that kid.  He never lost his cool, and put every hole behind him and tried his best on the next one.

I also wanted to say I am loving using Google Reader to keep up with my blog reading.  I caught up with so many posts yesterday, and it was so easy.  I got my whole blogroll moved over to it, and will be adding some new ones to it, as it makes it soooo much easier to keep up with all y’all.

I looked for a cool quilt shop to visit while in Abilene, but wasn’t able to find one.  So, as far as my stash report, it remains unchanged.  None in, none out.  However, this weekend I have gotten to get back to quilting on my 9P & stripe, and it is a stash project. A big one. I have another set of borders finished, two to go.  And, I’m afraid the final two will be problematic, because I did not follow the rules.  I did not have enough fabric to leave myself enough extra backing on the edges.  Since it’s my own quilt, I’m going to try to forge ahead, but I may end up having to try to add some strips, which will not be easy at this point.  Someone slap me.  I know better, really.   Yesterday, I quilted the swags and beadboard, and today I did the Georgian feather strip.  I love feathers.  I love quilting feathers.  A few progress pics for you, even though they aren’t much different than what I’ve posted from this one before.  But, I’ve been seriously lacking blog content lately, and I guess same old, same old is better than none at all.

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pretty fabric · quilt top · quilting · quilts · sewing · stash busting

Stash Quilt Reporting


I don’t think my reports are about stash busting any more, but what I’ve done with my stash.  I added 5 yards of Kona white cotton back to the stash, since I’m using what I had in my Boston Commons.  That is a staple I like to keep on hand.  I finished by sawtooth star blocks, finally.  And, I think I might like them all together, after all.  If you’ve been following my progress on them, you may remember this previous post, where I posted the ones I had finished together, and then divided into different color groupings and settings.  Well, here is the whole lot of them, finished and laid out how I would sew them together, if I decide to follow the original pattern.

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I think I do like it.  My husband likes it.  How about a poll?

To see how they looked divided into orange and no orange groups, click the link to the previous post, mentioned above.  I’m curious to see which one wins.  Doesn’t mean I’ll follow it, but I might!

family · knitting · quilting · quilts · stash busting

Sunday Reporting, 6-7-09


This past week has sure been a busy one! I was very busy at my day job last week, so I didn’t get a lot done on my quilting projects last week.  I did get some more sewing in on my sawtooth star blocks, during my lunch hours.  And since I’m not sure how I’m going to use them, I th0ught I better make sure I had some border fabrics on hand, just in case, you know. 🙂

That means my stash report is all about fabric coming in this week.  And it felt good! 14 yummy yards to fondle and fold.

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YTD numbers:

  • Incoming Yardage to date: 52 yds.
  • Outgoing Yardage to date:  35.75 yds.
  • Total Stash Busted to date: – 16.25 yds.

Yeah, I’m going the wrong way.  Oh darn.

I have picked my knitting back up, for something to do when I’m just chillin’, watching TV and relaxing.  Or when it’s nice out and I want to sit in the yard under my shade trees.  However, I don’t think I’m ever going to graduate from knitting kindergarten.  Oh man, I seem to take out more knitting stitches than quilting stitches.  I make so many mistakes.  And I’m only doing a stockinette stitch.  I started this sweater completely over several times.  Hopefully, I’ll make it to the finish! And it will actually be wearable.

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I bought some other quilty goodies this week. Connecting threads had a 30% off notions sale, and I have been wanting to try Clover yo-yo makers, so I got one of every size.

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I’m a little too busy to be making yo-yos right now, though, so don’t expect to be seeing any soon.  I also got this cool stencil from Full Line Stencil.

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Even though I’m not using it on my 9P & Stripe, I tested it out on it, just to see how it works.  I like it!

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And here is where some of my time has gone! Every minute worth it!  The first two pics are after the NTPGA junior tournament here in Perryton.  1st place with a four under par of 68!

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And a first place in his age division at the Jim Hitch Memorial tournament in Guymon, OK.

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I have gotten some more, though very little, quilting done on my 9P & stripe, but it’s just more of what you’ve already seen.  So I’ll save posting more pics til the end.

Have a great week, and remember to spend some time doing something you love,  and hopefully spend some quality time with someone you love!

quilt top · quilting · quilts · stash busting

Thankful Tuesday and Early Wednesday WIP


I know it’s usually thankful Thursday, but I’m going early this week on some things.  My Dad is doing much better.  Everything seems to be resolving and doesn’t look like anything too serious is going on with him.  Yay!  My husband had some tests a week ago Friday, one involving what the doctor suspected was another cancerous mole.  But it wasn’t! Yay! And while he was having that biopsied, he also had the blood test that screens for prostate cancer, and that came back normal, also.  Yay!

And I’m thankful for all my blogging friends that sent prayers and kind thoughts.  And thank you all for the encouragement you’ve given about my 9P & stripe! So many sweet comments.  I appreciate them all!

I’ve been doing a bit of piecing on my star blocks again, but I don’t think they are going to end up in the pattern that was intended.  I love the blocks, I love the fabrics, I’m just not loving them together.  So, I think this project is going to go a different direction, which will require a bit of extra thinking on my part…lol.  I think that it’s the orange fabrics not going with the reds…maybe.  At least not when they are butted next to each other, like the pattern.

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When I pull out the orange ones, I like it better.

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And the oranges  aren’t bad on their own.

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But I’m still not really feeling it.   Maybe it’s a value thing…I’m not really sure why I don’t like it, it just doesn’t seem to be working.  But I know these block have the potential to be an awesome quilt, or maybe more than one quilt.

So, I looked closely at the fabrics, and notice that several share a similar green accent color, that happens to be very close the color of this bolt I bought to use for backing fabric.  And I wondered, what if I set them on point, and used this green for setting blocks and triangles?

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Or, sashing and setting triangles,  with the blocks on point, which I think is my favorite.

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Even like this, I don’t think the polka dots and oranges go with the rest, and will figure out a way to put them together, on their own.  What do you think? Am I on a better track with this?

feather quilting · freehand quilting · longarm quilting · machine quilting · quilt top · quilting · quilts · stencil quilting

Wednesday WIP, 5-27-09


More 9P & stripe…26.5 hours into it…y’all are going to get tired of seeing this one.

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I’m not sure I am making all the right design choices…but, this is a learning project for me.  A project to expand my skills and challenge myself, so I’m ok with that.  For example, I’m not sure the large size setting triangle feather is working that well, but even so, I’ll probably just go forward with it.  I’m having fun!

That scroll-y design is a Karen McTavish stencil.  The setting blocks are stencils, as well, but I forgot to see who from.  I’ll get that later, for anyone interested.  I’m at work now, but remembered that I forgot to mention that.

feather quilting · freehand quilting · longarm quilting · machine quilting · quilt top · quilting · quilts · stencil quilting

Quilting Feathers, Feathers, & More Feathers


First, I cannot let Memorial Day go by without stating my thanks and appreciation for all the brave men and women that have served, or do serve in the armed forces, to afford the rest of us the wonderful freedom that we enjoy.  So many sacrifices they have made, many the ultimate sacrifice.  And thank you to their families.  Though saying thank you  doesn’t seem enough.

With the crosshatching behind me, I got to start quilting feathers today.  I love feathers.  Love quilting them, love the way they look.  I did not want to crosshatch the striped border, even though that would have matched the stripes in the interior.  Instead, I chose this pretty stencil by Barbara Chainey.  I’m liking it.

First, is the chalking.

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Then the stitching begins.

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Three hours later, one border done.  (it didn’t feel like it took that long)

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Much more fun that crosshatching.  So, I guess I have about 9 hours left to finish the other three of these borders.  This one is going to be on the machine for awhile yet.  I have a plan for that little inner border that matches the setting triangles.  I have a plan for the setting triangles.  I have not yet decided on the very outside border…maybe swags.  Maybe not.  Maybe more feathers.

I took time out this morning to relocate this litte guy from the back patio, to the front flower bed, so he would be safe from Tuffy and Libby. I took the top off of Tuffy’s feeder to catch him with.  The lizard was not happy about it…if he only knew, it really was for his own good.  Tuffy would have caught him and eaten him, eventually.  Libby would have just killed him.  I like lizards.

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Now he lives here.  Plenty of cover and should find lots of bugs to eat.

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