I have been working hard this week to get some projects done before the hoards descend beginning tomorrow. I got to stay home yesterday and today and will be home again tomorrow so that has helped immensely. Tomorrow evening I will pick up my adorable grandson and his wonderful mother and we will head down to Olympia for a friend's wedding. Olaus will head directly over to our house to hang with 'the boys' for the evening. Saturday the plan is to 'do' Seattle or at least part of it for Karina's benefit. She is my sister's Ukrainian exchange student 'daughter' who will be heading home at the end of June. Either that evening or Sunday after church everyone will be at our house. Nothing makes a house seem quite so small as 6 adults, 4 teenagers, a toddler and a poodle. Tomorrow I will finish up some things, do laundry, make cookies and get the sewing room turned into a guest room. If I have some extra time I might even do a little mowing since the weather is supposed to be pretty nice I believe.

Neutral with a splash of color

Possibly my new favorite color combination - neutral with a splash of color. My second quilt top in this combination. The first is a row by row round robin top that I have waiting for hand/machine quilting. I really hope to get some of my tops quilted this summer. First though, I have a few things that have deadlines. This is one of my denim tops; white, cream and tan denim with red violet strips in between. The idea came to me the other night when I was trying to fall asleep and amazingly, I remembered it in the morning after I got up. That does not always happen you know.
I don't know if I will get much more sewing done this week as I get my sewing room cleaned out for company. I hope to finish up a couple of projects that just need some handwork but we shall see.
If I get the cleaning done early I might work on some scrappy crazy quilt blocks to get rid of my smallest scraps. Here is a picture of a quilt I made from some of the crazy quilt blocks for my grandson, Layden. It is one that stays here for him to use for play or naps or tents or whatever.

Another top

Amazingly, I got another denim top done. In spite of the interruptions. I even made bread! This top is out of more or Rebecca's Carhartts, this time brown and green with a little camouflage thrown in. Then next one will be a little different than most of my denim tops so I am anxious to get started on it tomorrow.
One interruption was a call from Rebecca down in Texas. She broke a spoke and needed some help getting in contact with someone who might be able to pick her up and help her get her wheel fixed. She is now in Houston somewhere with a Warm Shower contact.
My throat is feeling a little strange this evening. I hope it doesn't mean I am starting to catch something. I really don't have time for that!

Can't cut another square

I made a decision. I have cut enough denim! I just can't do another square! I have enough blue for 10 tops along with at least two others. I think that with the tops that I have done already that is just plenty. I will just put the rest of the denim up in the attic for my next assault. Much of this decision comes from the fact that we will be having at least 7 people descending upon our home for a visit so my sewing room will have to become a bedroom for at least 2. The rest of the decision comes from wanting to work on some other things also. Besides, the denim quilts need to be finished by the end of May to be given to foster kids who are graduating from high school. So in a day or two, you should be seeing some more tops posted.

I am not sitting idle

Sometimes when there are gaps between posts, especially posts with quilt pictures or info, it is not because I am not sewing. On the contrary, it often means I am working on a project that I can't say anything about because it is a gift and the person would read about it or see a picture and recognize that the item could only be for one person and that one person is them. So there you have it. I hope that got everyone wondering what I am working on. I am looking forward to posting pictures so you can all oooooh and aaaaaah!

Slash The Fat Quarter

Tonight at Craft Night I did a demonstration of a Slash The Fat Quarter Round Robin. If you haven't heard of one before here is how it goes:
Each person in the round robin picks out a fat quarter that they would like to be the basis for their project. This is sent to the first person on their list. That person makes a cut between opposite sides of the fat quarter and adds a strip in between the two pieces.
It then gets passed to the next person on the list and that person cuts between opposite sides and adds their own strip.
It goes to the next person...
And the next...
And the next...
And when everyone has done their addition it returns to the person who chose the fat quarter and they finish the project off with border or whatever. I will post a picture when I finish this one. It will probably end up as a baby quilt.

OK it is really twill

I got another top done this weekend! This one is actually twill and not denim. The colors are light khaki, olive green and navy but the green looks more gray and the khaki more cream in the picture. The pattern is a bit different because I wanted to use up the pieces I had - that is the great thing about this pattern. The next one will use up most of the pieces from Rebecca's old Carhartts - brown and green and a little camo mixed in. I also got lots more of my ripped denim cut into blocks. I still have a box I would like to get cut up so I have more varieties of denim to work into the quilts.
Speaking of Rebecca...I chatted with her this evening. She rode out of Austin today after seeing the sights with Oscar, one of her triathelete friends. She sounds good and is having a great time. Less than half the way to go now.

One more step down the slippery slope

This evening the boys and I went out to dinner and we also bought my belated Christmas present - an iPod HiFi. I have my second Apple product. The boys think that I am one step closer to crossing over to the dark side, but I will stick with my PC. It works fine for me as long as the boys don't mess with it! I only got the Apple dock because it had the best sound with an auxiliary input without being too expensive. Now when I have to turn up my music to cover the noise from the TV in the living room it will sound good!

I finally finished another quilt top! It turned out just as I expected - GREAT!

Two nights on a hotel bed = aches and pains

No new quilt tops done, no trees pruned but I feel like I have done several of each this weekend. Larry and I went down to Husom/White Salmon to visit with the kids and grand kid and Oli's folks. We drove down on Friday evening, leaving Jakob to his own devices.
We stayed at The Inn of the White Salmon, a nice bed and breakfast, with the emphasis on the breakfast. Saturday we drove up to Joy and Frank's.
Larry got some rough sawn lumber from Frank for his workbench and Chelsea and I made an excursion to Portland to Fabric Depot. We had a bit of a slow start but I managed to fill the cart with bolts of fabric. I discovered that Chelsea likes much the same types of prints that I do so she was not much help in cutting back! Unfortunately, I was unable to get my 60" black Kona bolt so I will have to order that when they get some in. That could slow me down some on the denim quilts. I also got to spend a little time with the most beautiful little boy in the world. Each time I see him I am so amazed that one little boy can be so happy all the time. Even when you take something away from him he just smiles and moves on to the next interesting thing. We are all so blessed.
Larry is feeling a bit under the weather so I got to do all the driving. It is only about 4 hours but still I am a bit sore from the drive.

Another Haircut Finished

The frogs have been singing their chorus in the evening and the birds take care of the verses during the day. Spring is just around the corner. Not much news today other than I finished pruning apple tree number 4. That was a two day event as it was the biggest of the five. Still have one more to go but I need to get out soon to do that so I can move on to the grapes and then the blackberries. Larry started mowing grass but the battery cable corroded off the terminal so he had to go to town for a new one. At least it got started. The weather forecast is for some rain tomorrow and into next week so pruning will be put on the back burner I think. That also means the grass is going to take off!

Another top done

Here is the scrappy quilt top I put together for a silent auction in April. I started with the leftovers from the scrappy quilt I helped with at the retreat and cut some more squares and here it is. I like the setting. It is always so hard to pick the best setting when using blocks like these or log cabin. I need to decide how I want to quilt it and get it finished off but first lots more denim to be cut and sewn.

Spring really is on its way!

A beautiful day in western Washington! The sun was shining and it was around 60 degrees outside! My little boy picked a daffodil and brought it to me and now I have a whole bouquet on my table. It inspired me to take a walk around my little piece of heaven and see what is popping up. Violets, daffodils, primroses, English daisies. I have uploaded the pictures I took to my Flickr pix. I probably should have done some work in the yard but I didn't, other than planting a couple of plants a friend dropped off.

Rice bag here I come

I finished another denim top on Friday as you can see. Today I got started on one of the quilts I am doing for a silent auction. It is using the leftovers from the quilt top that Karla and I made last weekend. I have my half square triangles sewn and pressed and now I am trimming them to size.
Took a break to help Jakob make kuchen for 'culture points' for his German grade. The batch made 12 so he might be able to bring in enough for his whole class if I give him a ride to school. Then since I was baking I got bread dough made and even whipped up a pie for Larry since he can't have the kuchen. I think he will be making knepfla for dinner tomorrow night for additional points.
While the dough was rising I went out and worked on pruning the biggest apple tree. I got done what I had energy for and the rest will probably need a ladder.
Now I think I need to heat up the rice bag and use it on my shoulders for a bit.

A productive day off

Another denim top done. I got tired of just cutting squares and decided to put one together. Still lots to cut but it is nice to see a finished product every so often.
I had a day off today and made the most of it with a visit with one friend and lunch with another.
I would have done some pruning but it was snowing some when I got home and it was rather chilly. Hard to talk yourself into going out in those conditions. The weather isn't so sure about what season it is but my flowerbeds are starting to signal spring. Crocus, primroses and a rhody blooming and daffodils getting ready to show off soon.
Jakob makes sure we go for a drive each afternoon. He is still a bit nervous about driving but is getting a bit more comfortable behind the wheel.