Renewed Excitement

I love my Tuesday night quilting bee. It's an offshoot from the guild I used to belong to and quit when Lucas (7) was born. I happened to run into one of the members in JoAnn's one day, just after Ruthie was born and she told me about their retreat and urged me to come...and also told me about the Tuesday night bee.



Well, I couldn't leave Ruthie when she was tiny, but as soon as I felt comfortable leaving her for a few hours, I became part of the Tuesday Night Quilting Bee. It's so hard for me to get out of the house, though! Every month I wonder if it wouldn't just be easier to stay home and sew as I'm rushing around, packing my quilting, eating my dinner, making sure the kids are all accounted for so I can run out of the door at ten to six.



But once I'm out...I sit for 3 glorious hours with my quilting and my friends, chatting and sewing the evening away.



Last night, as I packed up to come back home, I laid out the frame quilt (I took it off and put it in a hoop so I could work on it during the bee) and realized the quilting is nearly finished. I actually took a second look, sure that I missed a few blocks and hadn't noticed, but no...there is one block and some sashing left before the border.



So today, I have renewed interest in the frame quilt. My plan is to finish a dishcloth each day before I start to quilt (at least for now) and I can hardly wait to get to the quilting today knowing that I can have the center done and be working on the border in short order.



In the next few days, I'll also get out the next quilt and decide on the quilting designs and mark that so it's ready for the frame as soon as I can get some batting.



After 30+ dishcloths, the quilting bug is biting me again and I'm glad for that. I also want to finish the blocks for one of the applique projects because that is the quilt I'd like in the frame once the Christmas quilts are done.



I have a few chores that need to be done today, mostly some picking up in our bedroom which tends to be a dropoff spot and cleaning my kitchen well after baking all day yesterday. The quilt is calling me and I plan to answer that call today. With some concentrated effort, I might even be able to take it off and mark the border.

And to the right is Ruthie in her new little hiding place, she likes to sit on the footrest that I have under my frame, it's her own little fort.

So I'd better get to it! The chores are about done now, it took forever to get this pic to upload today. I try to do the biggest jobs in the morning so afternoons/evenings can be spent alternating between sewing and smaller chores, while running my kids around when need be and visiting with them.

Happy Quilting!

Miscellaneous Chatter

I had a productive, enjoyable weekend!

I'm still knitting dishcloths like crazy, but am now feeling the quilting bug again so hope to spend some time on the frame quilt. With it being mid-October, I'm thinking of Christmas and how I was hoping to have the 2 quilts I need done for Christmas both finished by Thanksgiving, which is now only 5 1/2 weeks away. WEEKS. Yikes. After so much knitting, my quilting callous is gone, so I have to build it back up again. Tonight there are two playoff games on TV, so I plan to quilt during those and hopefully will be able to settle in and make some good progress.

I had a friend stop by Saturday with something for Ruthie. They were cleaning out their daughters' room and their youngest is now too big for this. Since it was in nearly perfect condition they thought Ruthie needed a piece of furniture her size. It's a little foam couch that folds out into a bed. She opened it and laid down, closed it and sat and played with it and on it all evening, at bedtime she climbed in and went to sleep. The Winnie the Pooh cover zips on and it's like a sleeping bag on top.

Our kids were coming and going all weekend, which is typical these days, I was happy to put up my feet and knit :)

So I'm off, to do more knitting and some hand quilting. I've made a good sized dent in my housework and laundry for the day, so I'm looking forward to a relaxing afternoon and evening ahead.

Happy quilting!

I've Been Busy!

I don't usually go a week between posts, but I've been really busy!

Monday our kids' youth group had a pumpkin launching competition and it was an all day affair. I was there for the afternoon, cooking dinner for the lot of them and a wonderful time was had by all. My sons were the grand prize winners, having made a giant (16 feet tall, then mounted on a pickup truck) sling shot that shot a pumpkin over 300 feet.

I've been on a dishcloth knitting jag! I bought a couple of balls of yarn to try it out and was hooked, so bought more at the store last Thursday. I'm almost through it all, and this is the result. I bought a cone and still am working on that, I think I can get a couple more cloths out of it.

I bought more yesterday, another cone and 4 more balls so I'm still on a roll. I love using these and may make some to use for washcloths in the shower, too. Those scrubbies that are so popular are too abrasive for me, these should be good as they have enough to them to exfoliate a bit but are softer than those plastic ones.

I'm heading to a friend's house this afternoon for a visit and some sewing. I'll be bringing my knitting again as it's so easily portable and now that I have the pattern down I can talk and knit at the same time.

The frame quilt is coming along, most of the blocks are quilted and most of the sashing, too. I still don't know what to quilt in the border, but will have to decide soon as I'm almost there! I have one more quilt to quilt by Christmas, so it's time to get that one out and mark it so it's ready for basting next week.

I guess that's it for now, hopefully as the holidays descend upon us I'll have more to say. Holiday time finds me very busy with baking, menu planning, list organizing and shopping. I LOVE IT!

Have a great day!

What is it about....

new supplies!


I can't keep my hands off of them. Usually when I'm buying quilting fabric, I have something in mind for it and I can hardly wait to get started once I get home. There are times when I'm in the midst of a project and need to wait, but it really helps spur that old project on to have a new one...with newly bought fabric...waiting in the wings.


Yesterday I bought more yarn for dishcloths. After making a few and using them, I just love them for doing dishes (and may make some for washcloths, too.) They seem to have enough abrasiveness for light scrubbing, yet feel soft and wonderful in my hand. Something about those colorful bits of knitted thread makes the job more enjoyable, too.


I have a quilt on the frame that I'm going gangbusters on, but could I quilt yesterday? Of course not! That yarn was calling my name. The result was 3 new dishcloths. I knitted 2 1/2 of them before doing some quilting, then finished the one that was half finished after quilting for a while.

I've been trying to upload pictures of the finished dishcloths, but there seem to be a problem with loading pictures at present so those will have to wait for another day. I just got back from lunch with a friend (and attempted loading the pictures one more time) and now I'm hoping to do some quilting....and maybe some knitting....perhaps some applique? Hopefully the indecisiveness doesn't mean that none of them will get worked on!

Just Checking In

It's been a while, I just haven't had very much to say! For anyone who knows me, I'm sure that's very hard to believe!

I mostly write about quilting because the other aspects of my life are rather mundane overall. While they keep me busy and content, I don't know that they make for very exciting reading.

When writing to family or friends about the doings in our home, I list off everyone's comings and goings (and there are many with a husband with 2 jobs, a 20 year old and 3 teenagers in addition to my two younger kids) and finish with "I'm the glue that holds it all together."

It's exactly what I'd hoped to be doing those many years ago when we started planning for a family.

I love my "boring" life. The less I have to leave the house, the better. The more I'm home, the cleaner and more organized my home is, the more quilting I'm getting done, the more on top of things I feel. I go out one evening a month for a quilting bee, one Friday a month to visit a friend, an occasional day out to Bren's house, and an occasional lunch out.

I'm now also thinking of Christmas and what gifts I will be making. The two biggest projects are lap quilts this year, one is on the frame and has quite a bit of progress on it. I took both from my stash of tops this year so as soon as this one is finished, the next can go on the frame. The main part of my work should be done by Thanksgiving at the very latest, leaving me the month of December for other small gifts. I think this is the most organized I've ever been!

So I guess that's it, I'm just rambling now. These next couple of days should be rather easy as I did a lot of cleaning and laundry yesterday. We have post-season baseball fever in our house so tomorrow will be spend largely quilting in front of the television watching the THREE playoff games that will be broadcast.

Today I hope to spend a serious amount of time quilting, too. It's one of those gloomy, foggy, damp days and, aside from watching a friend's children for a couple of hours, my day is wide open. I expect a peaceful day and wish one for you as well!

A Productive Weekend!

I feel really charged up after this weekend. My husband and middle son went to a Hunter's Safety Course from 8-3 on both Saturday and Sunday, plus my husband had to work Saturday evening. Our older children had varying activities and were mostly out of the house. I got a LOT done!

Thursday night I started one of the red dishcloths, I finished it Friday morning. I'm loving doing these dishcloths, so I took knitting with me to my friend's house. By Friday night, I had four! These are SO much fun to do. I used every scrap of the red yarn. The first ball made two dishcloths, with about 4 feet of yarn left, with the second ball, I needed that 4 feet to finish the second cloth. Yikes. I know to watch my tension when making these! I found cones of this cotton at Walmart in some nice colors, I'll be buying it from the cone from now on!

Thursday, I spent all day machine quilting the already cut fabrics for Humbug bags, now all I have to do is make the small handle and put them together. That will be done another day.

I spent a fair amount of time hand quilting and was able to finish the hoop quilt. I pulled out my machine to put the binding on and hand sewed it to the front while watching baseball. Since my machine was out anyway, I also sewed the next piece on the geese blocks. Here is the quilt I finished last night.

I have a few things that need to be done today, but should have a fair amount of time to spend quilting. I wouldn't let myself quilt on the new frame quilt until the hoop quilt was finished, so I'm very excited about quilting today.

Time to get to it!

A Sewing Day?

I hope so!

I did my usual Thursday errands yesterday as I needed a few things early, so today I'll be home nearly the entire day. I find when I don't have deadlines to meet, it's easy to fritter away time...and I don't really think there is anything wrong with it, though I find it frustrating because I know I can be so much more productive.

At the quilting bee Tuesday night, I handquilted non-stop for 3 hours (plus had quilted some during the day as well), so my fingers needed a break. I finished up the first dishcloth and am excited about doing more. I've gone through my patterns and picked another to try. I have other things in mind for today, though if I get bored with them or run into trouble I may just put them aside and start a new dishcloth.

My kitchen is red, with pink accents. What did I find at Walmart? Red cotton with pink and white in it...perfect for dishcloths for my kitchen. I bought two balls and will be getting more as I can so my dishcloths will match my kitchen. I also found large cones of it in pretty variegated colors, I'll be buying cones of it to make them for gifts as well.

I'm enjoying the fact that I'm having time to pick up some of the crafts that I used to do. I've been almost exclusively quilting for 15 years, and it would be easy for me to continue this as quilting is by far my favorite, but I do like having other options for gifts or to do during those times I just need a break from quilting. Sometimes after finishing a large project (especially if I spent a lot of concentrated time on it at the end) I need a day or so before starting on the next project.

What I plan to do today (best laid plans and all that) is work on humbug bags. Last week, I took the zippers I had and picked fabric for the outer part of the bag and the lining to go with each zipper and put them in a box. Yesterday I cut them to size along with batting for each. I have an oversize and an undersize zipper, I made up my own size for those bags and had bought two more zippers, so picked and cut fabric for those as well.

I'm a good assembly line worker. Once I know how to execute a pattern, I do the steps on many at once, which not only saves time, it's really fun to do. (I did 17 quilts one Christmas for my nieces and nephews this way and it was a hoot!) Last night, I started to mark the quilting on them, I have several marked now. Today I will set up my machine and quilt the ones that are finished, then perhaps mark the rest (or mark a few at a time, then sew. As marking is tedious to me, that is sometimes better done a few at a time.)

I doubt that I'll get farther than the quilting. Attaching the zipper is still awkward for me and I can only do that when I'm in the right frame of mind. If I get there later, I may assemble a few, too, but if not, I'll begin a new dishcloth or hand quilt some.

Tomorrow I'm spending the afternoon with a friend and the dishcloth or the quilting will come along. It may or may not get worked on, but it will be with me just in case.

And now, I'll set up my machine and get her humming. My house is in good shape, so theoretically this day can be spent sewing. Stay tuned!