Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas!

A Chicky Chorus Line

Straight from Times Square in New York....dancing right into your quilting area...THE CHICKEN PIN CUSHIONS!

Only 24 nights till Christmas.

Happy shopping, wrapping, shipping and loving every minute of it!

Barnyard Gossips

Cluck, cluck.

Before the End of the Year

Two more finishes for the year!

And....

Oh, not the best lighting on this one.

It is always fun to have a project done and behind you since there are so many out there just ready to be started, worked on, or finished.  At this time Christmas projects have jumped to the front of the line but I can't blog those yet or there will be no surprises for later.

But I can show you a few things that are: 1) on the design wall, 2) being played with, and 3) a possible challenge piece.

As in a previous blog where I re-purposed a failed project this is an attempt to re-purpose some more of the failed project.

....a work still in progress.

and then there is 'the wallet'.  Why is it the pictures (not mine) always look better in the book?  So to give full credit I will include the pictures from the book.

 This one was the trial one which was taken apart.  Sad to say the finished one was also a learning curve and isn't the one to crow about either.  But I am not going to give up on these as I have too many sets cut out....for now, they are on the back burner.

I've never written about the new quilt group that I have dropped in on and dearly love.  The ladies call their group "Fyber Café" and they all are talented art quilters.  Just from the last two meetings I have picked up so much.  The November meeting is out on their blog http://fybercafe.blogspot.com/ with some of my show and tell projects featured.  This is almost as good as getting published in a quilt magazine! 

They have a quilt challenge if you want to participate and this one has the theme of 'weather report'.  The first idea to pop in my mind was 'raining cats and dogs'.  Well, that didn't even make it to the drawing board.  So while organizing the loft this piece surfaced. It was a piece that I had dyed,  stenciled and bleached this last summer.  I've started adding white French Knots in hopes the finished piece will look like a snowy forest.

Happy rainy days of fall!

Manipulating Your Stitches!

I read it on the internet as I was going through quilts blogs but it was one of those moments of:  'why didn't I think of this myself!'

I hope I am not the only one who under utilizes the stitches on their sewing machine.  Just in case this is new to you also, I use a Bernina and don't know if this info is the same for other makes of sewing machines.

We all know how to shorten or lengthen the straight (1) or zig-zag (2) stitches but how about number 4.  I am not even sure what that stitch is called but ....

if you lengthen it to 3 and reduce the width to 5 then you get a long wavy stitch that works as a great top stitch.

Now isn't that the neatest thing!

Happy to learn new things!

A Roadtrip with Grandma

As many of you know we have lost a dearly loved member of our family.  My Mother passed away September 12th.  She lived a very full 94 years and will be missed by all of us.  Her end was peaceful.

But there is always a story or two to tell when it comes to Mom. 

When we put together a family memorial we remembered all the fantastic things she has done and taught us. 

My sister did an awesome job putting together all those things that defined who Mom/Grandma/Great-grandma was and how each of us were touched personally in some way by her.

Now that being said.

We all know that at times she was not a very patience person, so none of us envied the FedEx driver.  She arrived very late in the day and the FedEx driver must have felt a very uncomfortable presence with him, especially the later it became.  We made sure there was always someone watching for Mom.

Mom barely made it in time for her own party.

But when she did arrive the stories and tributes began.

The next day Bill and I took her on a road trip with us.  She did like to travel so we thought she might like a drive through OR.

On the road...eastern OR.

The town of Fossil is where behind the high school you can dig for fossils!  I swear while I was digging for the fossils I hear mom say, "Susan, we have been here long enough.  It is time to go!"  That said, she was always game to take rides with all of us and go to some pretty wild places and not say a word.

For now Mom is keeping me company as I sit in the loft and quilt.  I will miss her when we take her on her final road trip next month and lay her to rest beside Dad. 

Ah lady, I do miss you.

Drum Roll

This one (for me) is a smiler.  I so like the way it turned out.  I don't know if it is the colors, the design, or because it is something so outside my box.

Yesterday morning while doing laundry and thinking about packing for the trip I started another one.  I almost finished it.... and would have except for the football game on TV.  The squares are still being made from that former project that didn't work out and there are still a few more of them.

I can see where this might become addicting.  We need to pass through Portland today on our way to Hood River and beyond. At first I had no reason to stop at Fabric Depot but  now I think I need more gray fabric for future quilts.

Happy trails or is it trials????

Harder Than it Looks

There is nothing better than having a fast internet connection.  When we changed providers it was with the decision to have a faster speed so we could stream programs.  And it is amazing what is out there to stream.  My favorite site is PBS with quilt programs coming in a real close second.  So yesterday morning I went out to "The Quilt Show" and clicked on free shows.  Having only a few free ones available I picked Jacquie Gering's "Make It Modern".

And by the afternoon this is what was going up on the design wall.

The fabric was from another project that wasn't working.

There wasn't that much of either color so it was make it small time.  I was only able to get the four squares from what I had and then I had to cheat on the lime green.

mmm. I should have posted before finishing the top as looking back I like the arrangement of the blocks just the way they are.

Audition time with background fabrics.  Not being happy I asked Bill to come and take a look.  After hanging up and taking down fabric this is what the outcome was. 

How simple can this be....not being the sharpest pencil in the box today there was a lot of seam ripping before the pieces went where they were suppose to.

But it is on the sewing machine being top stitched....9 rows of top stitching so far!

Won't be long and this one will be 'a finish'!

Happy day to all of you!

A Finished!

What is better than starting a new project?  Finishing one and liking it!  So drum roll please....

And what comes next to finishing a project....how about one that can be close to finishing????

This one just does not like its picture taken.  The colors always look muted and maybe they are since I usually like working in brighter colors but it is still pretty when you see the real thing.

Have you ever went on-line to the Etsy site?  You can find just about anything there if you look long enough.  This came in the mail on Saturday and made me smile.

mmmm, what can we do with these?????

Happy end of summer days!

Shopping Therapy

Any excuse for an addiction to be satisfied... 

Quilters can always find the fabric stores and in this case (thanks to a quilting niece or two) a Bernina store also.  I never intended to come home with another sewing machine but when Verna told me how much a traveling 'Bernette" was, I had to go check it out.   That was trip #1 to the store,  trip #2 added the plexi-glass work table that fits my 'other Bernina', and trip #3 had Sarah, Joe, and the girls in tow shopping for Sarah's birthday gift!  The Bernina store loved to see us coming through their door.

The Bernina store also carried fabric!

 The pictures don't do justice to the colors.

And then there was a Craft Warehouse that carries Moda fabrics..... and Charm packs that were on sale (the magic word).

Two quilts in progress.  How lucky can a quilter be....

And even more fabric came home..

These fat quarters are for Christmas projects which is a long ways off.

 

 

This was my project while at my sister's for two weeks.  It is ready for layering and top stitching.  Fortunately it can sit on the back burner for a few months.

 

 

Oh, the big news about this trip was my sister started a quilt.

 

 



Can't wait to go back up and see how she is finishing it!

Happy to have a big sister!

How Easy Can It Get!

Okay, I confess.  I am a quilt blog surfer (do they still use the word 'surfer' anymore?).  I am always out trolling for new ideas and just the other day I fell into this one.

Weeks ago I had my Connecting Thread order come in and I had ordered some very inexpensive charm packs.  I wasn't exactly thrilled with them when they arrived so they sat buried under other stuff in the quilt loft.  Then I saw this on a quilt blog.... and how easy and fast it turned out to be.

Stack 4-5 charms, mark a 2 inch spot on top and then a 3 inch spot on the bottom.

Cut, shuffle, and sew back together.

Are you getting the idea!

Sew them in chains....equal number in each section.  Doesn't matter how you place your colors.

Add white borders which don't even have to be the same width.  Now wasn't that easy and impressive!  This could have taken all of one morning.

But I have been distracted with this:

Happy Quilting!

A Walk on the Wild Side

If we stayed home we would have just worked.  And we do have a mission to walk as much of the North Umpqua Trail as we can. 

This morning was just too nice to stay home and do that dreaded four letter word so up river we went.  We knew that we wanted to head back to the Susan Creek Ped Bridge to get us on the trail side of the river.

When we arrived it took us a full 15 minutes to get across.  First there was the mother duck and her six little ducklings who were drifting with the current.  So having all the time in the world we watched them float under the bridge and then watched as they all huddled together on a dry rock.  Then we were side tracked by the salmon Bill saw in the river and we had to watch that.  Then there was the lady with the two dogs who wanted to share her life story with us.... 

So when we finally made it to the other side of the river we headed up river only because the lady with the dogs headed down river.

 

 

If you really want to take serious pictures you don't use your cell phone camera!  But this is not a fluke of the cell phone.  The tree really did appear to have a halo around it.

 

 



These were really pretty ferns and Bill is checking out what they were growing in.  There were too few of them to feel right about bring a couple home with us.

All in all it was a wonderful way to spend the morning.  After, we went further up river and stopped at Steamboat for breakfast before heading back home again.  We did stop at Baker Wayside and check a fishing spot or two. 

And yes, we were on or by the river all morning and not one river picture!  Maybe next time.

Happy Trails to You!