Busy, Busy, Busy

Today is the big day - well, one of them. This is the day of our Relay for Life. But first I need to get Princess Lucy to the groomer - she is getting a bit shaggy. I also need to get things together to bring to Relay like a tent, cooler, drawing items (including a quilt from me), chairs, blankets, extra clothes, etc. I also need to make a poster drawing attention to our drawings but I need to get a poster board first! Then I need to pick up the princess and get her home before I head over there.

I will be soooooo tired tomorrow afternoon but it is for a good cause. We have all been touched by cancer in some way, we all know someone who is fighting cancer, has defeated cancer or who we lost to cancer. If you would like to donate, just click here.

Finally

Here it is! My Border Round Robin Quilt! WooHoo!
I am very pleased with how it turned out. This round robin was started back in 2005 but it has been worth the wait.

i did the center Christmas Tree using 1 inch squares - yes, that means they finished off at 1/2" - of Xmas fabrics.

2nd - Rebecca, my second daughter, did the 7 little red and white packages with top-stitched ribbons and bows - all on my 1926 Singer Bentwood 99 sewing machine that she had in Alaska at college.

3rd - Brita, my niece, then 12, did the prairie points across the top of the tree.

4th - My sister, Karla, did our childhood address - 4320 S Holly St. up the left side.

5th - Jane made 7 pretty ornaments down the right side.

6th - Teena made a log cabin floor.

7th - Jill added two red and green wavy borders (there were enough packages and balls - you had to be there)

8th - Mariah, either 12 or 13 at the time, hung 6 stockings down the right side.

9th - Sarah added fussy cut Xmas fabric triangles to the left side.

10th - Deb added some curly ribbon top and bottom

11th - Mary added paper pieced Santas, with flannel beards, on each side (the pom-poms are in a baggy for after quilting) with 4 embroidered blocks in the corners that say "Making a List", "Checking it Twice", "Going to find out" and "Whose Naughty or Nice".

12th - Linnea provided Gingerbread Boys and Candy Canes. The banners the GBs are holding says "Quilting Is My Passion" ~ Alicia Wells (one of my mottos).

13th - Cindy hand appliqued candy canes between squares on point for a border on each side.

14th - Nadine framed Santas across the bottom.

15th - Sally framed Santas across the top.

16th - Katie, my niece, strung Xmas lights across the top. They don't actually have their 'strings' yet so maybe strung is the wrong word but they are twinkling up there. I did have to take her row off and turn it right side up - she carefully cut and pieced all the trees in one direction but then sewed it on upside down.

FInally, it is my turn to finish it off. I am thinking I will add a green strip across the bottom to balance it out first. Then I will address the unstrung lights. I haven't decided if it will be hand or machine quilted but once that is done I can add those little pom-poms and maybe some button ornaments to the tree and maybe it will be ready for Christmas this year! But don't hold your breath!

More pictures are on my flickr site.

False Start

I thought I was going to get stated on the baby quilt today but realized I don't have a sky fabric to be able to make the hot air balloons. I don't even have a variety of blues that could be used for the sky so I guess I will have to do a little shopping before I can get stated.

I am feeling a little less pressure to get things done now that a few things have been completed - still can't show a couple of them but that will come later. I am close to finishing the Round Robin Quilt now so maybe that will go out in the mail this week still. I need to get started on my Summer edition for the Four Seasons Swap but I am not sure of what that will be yet. Soon I will also have to get started on an English paper pieced mini quilt for June also.

My Round Robin quilt that was started almost two years ago is now done at my niece's home so I need to figure out when I can meet up with her to get it. Last night at craft night Nadine got hers (that's it in the picture) so it is just Linnea and me waiting to get ours. Linnea's also is finished but she hasn't received it yet.

Well, I think I need to go outside and get some weeding done and then maybe I will head to town to find some sky fabric.

Rest Stop on the Roady to Jericho

I have reached a nice point to stop and take a break on this project for a bit. I have 141 blocks ready to make into a quilt or two when I need one in a hurry. They will be put on the shelf waiting for that day.

I put the binding on the round robin quilt today so I need to get that handsewing done and then I will decide if I want to do anymore quilting. I was thinking of doing some echo quilting but I did the binding so I would know how far out to go with that. Still not sure if that is what I will do or not, though.

I got the first two sections of Ludvina's Legacy put together. I have the strip ready to go between the other two sections also and will get that done soon and then I can finish the other parts and get it all together and ready to quilt.

The Summer phase of the Four Seasons Quilt Swap is underway. My partner's name arrived in my inbox today so I will have to start thinking about getting that going soon. I should also receive the name of my June Mini Quilt Swap partner soon also so I have an English Paper Pieced Mini to get done too.

On top of all that I need to get a quilt done for that new grandbaby that is coming in just a few short weeks! Wow! I had better get off the computer and get to work!

Cruising

Look at these two little cuties. The one on the right is the one I made for Kristy - I think I did well since she said she has lots of chickens in her kitchen! The one on the left and the extra goodies are from her. These are our first month's efforts for the new Mini Quilt Swap over on Flickr. The little quilt goes quite nicely with the red chair quilt I received in the Doll Quilt Swap 3. The best part was that I actually got to meet in person one of the people I have been chatting with on Flickr. Now I need to start thinking about the June Mini Quilt Swap which involves English Paper Piecing - something I haven't actually done before though I have hand stitched some Grandmother's Flower Garden items.

I am nearly done with the quilting on the Spring Fling Round Robin quilt that I have now. I found a couple of fabrics to use in the binding along with the backing fabric. Haven't decided yet if it will be one of the fabrics, two of them, or all three. My decision will be made once the quilting is done and it tells me what it wants.

I will also need to get started on the Summer edition of the Four Seasons Quilt Swap soon. I should receive my partner's info in the next few days.

On another happy note - I got my car back from the shop this afternoon. I have become quite attached to my little red car. I missed it while it was in the shop. I have become greatly spoiled by this car in 5 short months!

My own little slice of Heaven

The car is in the shop getting its new bumper; I am still working on the quilting on the round robin quilt; I got my mini swap quilt completed and will meet my partner for the trade tomorrow; and, I have gotten a bit more work done in my yard. But the best thing that happened is a chance to baby-sit my friend's granddaughter while her mom went to a job interview. Little Heaven is just 2 1/2 months old and adorable and tiny and pretty well behaved. She visited yesterday morning and today again. Her mom got the job which is great news. I have given her a standing offer of baby-sitting if she can't take her to daycare for some reason. Any chance to just sit and hold a baby!

Our weather improved over the weekend but it cooled down again and we have had some rain but they are saying that the holiday weekend should be pretty good. I need to get more work done in the yard since we will be having a graduation party here in a couple of weeks.

Much to do

Look what arrived in today's mail! It came all the way from Norway and is my final step in the Spring Fling Round Robin. (sorry about that - the photo does not want to load so I will try again tomorrow. I have posted it on flickr). This one is truly international as it started out in Italy. The backing fabric came with it and I must do the quilting and binding and send it to its permanent home.

I am continuing to work on my Ludvina's Legacy quilt. I have the four large sections done and this evening I will be starting to work on putting them together. It is going together surprisingly fast considering it is all hand-sewing. I think that this weekend's project will be my offering for the May 6" - 12" mini quilt swap. We are trading directly with another quilter and my partner lives close enough that we plan to meet somewhere to do our trading.

I have been taking advantage of the nice weather we are finally getting here in Western Washington. I have been cleaning out flowerbeds and today I got the first row of strawberries weeded. It took 3 hours! I went out at 7 this morning to beat the heat since they have been predicting up to 90 degrees. I think it is only going to get a little over 80 but it was nice to come in when it started warming up knowing I had gotten a good piece finished. I hope to do the same thing tomorrow and get the second row taken care of also.

Today I took my car in to have it looked at by the insurance adjuster. I don't think I mentioned that my 4 month old car got damaged in a parking lot incident a couple of weeks ago. Luckily, the other guy's insurance agreed that it was his fault so they are going to pay for the repair. It will go to the shop next Wednesday and they will even pay for a rental car which will make things much easier.

Slacker

I realized yesterday that I haven't posted in nearly a week! That is pathetic! I have no excuses! I will try to do better but make no guarantees!

I did have a busy weekend with some fund-raising events for our Relay for Life team. We had a great time Saturday evening playing Bunco and such an easy fund-raiser. The best part was having lots of teenagers there having fun with us old folks! I am glad we are only three weeks away from the actual Relay for Life event. The week after that is high school graduation on Friday with a party at our house on Sunday. Then there will be a few weeks to get things together before the new grandbaby arrives.

I have been making some progress on various projects but nothing exciting. I am working on the fourth 16-block section of Ludvina's Legacy. I have figured out how I am putting them together and hope it will turn out well. I counted out all my little squares and think I will end up pretty much coming out even with my planned design.

I have a couple of secret projects I am working on that I am just not telling anyone about so I don't accidently let something slip to the wrong person. I really hate keeping secrets about things I am working on!

Block progress

The Road to Jericho is now 106 squares long with 35 left to make. I hope to get them done soon so that project can be put away for a while.

Last night I counted out blocks and strips that are completed for Ludvina's Legacy and here is what I came up with:

2 - 16-blocks sections
16 - 16 patch blocks
73 - 4-piece strips

This means I can get another section put together this evening perhaps and I can get enough blocks done for another one. I am starting to think about how I will put those sections together. The easy thing would be 1 or 2 inch (finished) sashing. I have also thought about using some of the little squares in the sashing and borders. Any thoughts? If I am using some of the little squares I need to figure this out soon so I don't end up having to cut more 1.5" squares!

Progress on the Road to Jericho

Last night I worked on the second 16 block section of Ludvina's Legacy (see April 12 and April 22). I have it about halfway done. I hope I don't lose momentum on this one as it would be nice to finally finish this project! I am enjoying doing this handsewing while watching TV.

Yesterday afternoon I also did some more work on my Road to Jericho blocks (again see April 12). This morning I finished up the 9-patch squares for the center of 41 squares. I also counted out the pieces I have cut for more squares so I know how many black squares to cut. Here is the tally for this quilt:

Finished squares - 65
Partially done squares - 41
Cut squares - 35
Total squares - 141

Still not sure how I will use these squares but I could make a queen size with 99 of the squares and then the remaining 42 could make a nice little lap quilt. That sounds like a good plan to me but things do change!

Something to show

So I am guessing that you all were thinking that maybe I had found a new hobby besides either quilting or blogging. Or maybe the weather has improved enough that I have spent every waking moment out in my yard. Well, none of this is true, especially the weather part!

Here is a picture of my main project the last two weeks - the second border on this Spring Fling Round Robin quiltlet. I really felt it needed something that wasn't too busy so I decided to add the various yellows and then some flowers. I think it turned out pretty well. I need to get a back ready for it and then get it in the mail to the person who will be quilting and binding it. I will then just have to wait for someone to send me the one that I will be quilting and binding. All of these little quilts are turning out so cool that it is hard to decide which one I want to quilt and which I want to come live with me.

This adorable quilt came to me from Lucinda through Doll Quilt Swap 3. She was worried that I wouldn't like it!?!?! What is not to like! I still haven't heard from my partner that she received her quilt from me. I hope that means that it really is snail mail and not that it is lost. I might have to come up with some ideas in case I need to replace it!

I have done a little out in the yard. Today I did some mowing. I brought some peonies home from my daughter's house and I got those planted around my wishing well and got that bed cleaned up. Now, after 3 days, they are looking like they might just make it.