What do you think?

I mentioned a few days ago that I am getting started again on a UFO Cathedral Window Quilt. Instead of using muslin for the background of the quilt I am using navy and I have enough together that I can start thinking about what to use as the window 'panes'. I am leaning toward yellows - including prints with white, blue and green but I also think it could look really great with neutrals, or brights, or ? What do you all think? And if I need more little squares of whatever palette I choose, would anyone be interested in swapping some little squares so I can make this a charm quilt. At this point I don't know how big this quilt will end up so not sure how many little squares I will be needing but I just wanted to send out some 'feelers' into the quilty world. I am waiting with bated breath.

Pretty Mini

If you have heard the weather reports for the Pacific Northwest the last week or so you might wonder if it was October and not August! We are getting a bit more rain in these here parts for this time of year than usual. On the one hand - I don't have to paint, but on the other hand (she had a wart! - I know, bad joke but one my dad used to use all the time -ooops! I shouldn't have said that because now I remember that he has been gone for 16 years today and I am welling up!)... on the other hand, I can't paint and that last side of the house is not the prettiest. It started out yellow but we tried one green color last fall to protect the new siding and didn't like it and I also tested another of the greens we didn't like on that side. So, like I said, it isn't pretty! I am hoping for a nice September!

Mini quilt received - August 2008
Originally uploaded by lucysquilts

Yesterday I did get several hours of mowing in with Miss Lucy in her carrier. Got rid of all those 'pretty' yellow flowers on about half of the grass (read weeds). Today while Lucy got prettied up I took care of some things at the church and on the way home I found a package in the mailbox! It came all the way from Lori in Florida and held this pretty little quilt. Isn't it great!?!?!

We are heading out tomorrow to see the grandbabies (and their parents and uncle) for the weekend. We are taking five whole days! I plan to take the laptop and camera so I might get a chance to post some pictures and thoughts!

Six and one-half

That's how many hours I painted today to get the second coat of green on both ends of the house. Don't need to update the pictures because really it doesn't look much different than it did yesterday afternoon. Now I have the last long side to do but the rain is supposed to return tomorrow according to the weather people. So maybe Tuesday I will be back out there.

cooperative weather

It was a bit cool when I started this morning but things warmed up and after 5 hours of painting I had finished the first coat on the north end of the house and did the whole first coat on this, the south end of the house. It is looking good even with just the one coat and green slopped on the trim. I hope tomorrow I can get another coat on at least one side and maybe the second one also. Then I just have the long east side left but there are lots of windows and doors on that side and it is lower like the finished west side.

This evening will involve lots of hand sewing and some TV!

Going Green

Here is the little quiltlet I received from Jane in Australia for Doll Quilt Swap 4. Isn't it beautiful?! It is all Japanese fabrics that her brother brought her. Thank you again Jane!

The weather is finally warming/drying out a bit so I was able to paint for a couple of hours yesterday afternoon and hope to get out there fairly early this morning. I should be able to finish the first coat on one end of the house and then move on to the next side. I should have the end finished this weekend along with a stretch of the front side of the house. They are predicting more rain for this week so we shall see how much painting gets done.

On the up side, the weather has allowed me to get the quilting done on the baby quilt and I am now embroidering all the ropes holding all those balloons to their baskets. I am over half done but there are a lot of balloons/baskets on that there quilt!

Yesterday I also got a center block from the SFRR2 that is begging for its first border so I will need to look at doing that soon. I might sneak it in between finishing the baby quilt and working in earnest on the SIL quilt.

Minis delivered

The second of my July Mini Quilts and the first of my August Mini Quilts were received in the last couple of days.

The July quilt sent to Jen(aka hedgehogquilts) was supposed to incorporate triangles. I used some half-square triangle leftovers from some of my Western Washington Quilt Shop Hop 2007 blocks to make some little pinwheels. I put this together during the two weeks at my daughter's house. When little Layden saw it he said 'Cool! Trees!" And nothing would convince him that they were pinwheels and not trees! I do have to admit that the big one sort of looks like a palm tree. For the back of the little quilt I used the WWQSH2007 focus fabric which features scenes from western Washington.


This is the little quilt I sent to Beth (aka maddieandme1). It was for the August hand-sewn group of mini quilts. I have been wanting to do some cathedral window projects so thought this was the perfect opportunity. I have always wanted to do one that used prints/colors for the background and neutrals for the window panes and this is how it turned out. It has inspired me to get moving on one of my UFOs. I ended up taking all of the machine work I had done from before out and pressed the squares. I am now doing it all by hand and I find it all comes together more precisely. I also discovered that pressing the seams open helps a lot. I haven't gotten too far yet but it will be my new long term project now that the Ludvina's Legacy top is together. I am thinking that the window panes will be charm squares but not sure if they will be one color range or just anything. Thoughts?

Yesterday I pulled out the baby quilt and got started on the embroidery of the name, date, etc. We had so many phone calls for the business though that I only got about 2/3 done with that little bit of hand work! I finished it up this morning and plan to get it basted and maybe machine quilted yet today. If I get the binding on before craft night tonight that will be my handwork while we chat. I also need to embroider the ropes between the baskets and the balloons but thought it would be easier to do the machine quilting if they weren't in the way.

Empty Nest Again

The grandson and son are gone again. It was so fun having him here and getting spend so much time with him. On Saturday we took him to Bremerton's Waterfront Park with all the fountains and the ferry coming in. Lots of fun! Then we did some garage sales. He got lots of 'new' toys including this great tractor! I didn't get much done other than cuddling and playing but that was way more important than anything else ever could be!

The painting is paused right now because of the weather. It has been too hot to paint and now they are talking about rain this week so I guess I will have to find other things to occupy my time!

Three in a Day!

Figured I would add a quick post now while I still can. My daughter called earlier to tell me that her brother was heading home for a few days. She off-handedly mentioned that she had considered sending my grandson along which I immediately jumped on so within an hour or so they should be here. She is feeling a little guilty sending him off but it is a win/win situation for all. She and SIL get to spend some quality time together on his three day weekend with the new baby, GS gets to be spoiled by his grandparents for three days and Papa and Grammy get lots of time with their favorite little boy. No guilt there!

I got all the trim around the deck painted with two coats including the french doors so I am feeling good about my day's work! I took all the painting stuff off the deck so it seems pretty normal out there.

Sally's Legacy

Last night at craft night Sally was able to show off her completed top also. I thought I used a lot of pieces but this one has 3060 triangles! The pattern is Lady of the Lake and is all in batiks. It is for her son and daughter-in-law's new king size bed (when they get it). She has been working on it steady for several months. You would be amazed at how beautiful her points are in this one! She ended up pressing all the seams open to aid in putting all the triangles together and it is amazing! It was really nice with just the blocks and sashing but once the outer border was attached it was stunning!

Sally is our hostess for craft night each week. This picture of her king size quilt should give you some idea of the size of her craft room! A great place to gather each week for quilting, scrapbooking, card-making, chatting, and, most important of all, laughing!

The Top Is Done!

WooHoo! Yes, in less than a year (I looked back in my posts and found my first mention of this project in October of last year) I have taken Ludvina'a Legacy from a pile of 1.5" squares to a 52 1/2" quilt top! I finished the borders last night and got it all pressed this morning. Here is a progression of the project in photos.





I figured it out last night and there are 2064 1.5" squares and 160 neutral sashing strips for a total of 2224 pieces. I ended up cutting about 40 more squares to complete the borders and then ended up with 6 extras so they will be part of the label when it is done. If you would like to read more about the project you can read it here. As an added bonus I am here is a scan of Ludvina's graduation portrait from the early 40's.
Well, it is time to get out and paint before it gets too warm!

Feeling Good!

I finished all the green on one side of the house!!!!! Tomorrow I will do at least the first coat of trim on the windows and french doors. If it isn't too hot I will do the second coat but it is supposed to be pretty hot tomorrow so we will see. There is a 4 hour wait between coats so by the time I can paint again the temperature is too high. I will probably work on one of the ends of the house with green. I have about 1/4 of one end done already just using up the paint from my bucket a few times. I am really liking the paint. It might be just that it looks so much cleaner and fresher than the old paint but I think I like the green really well. We are also thinking we will really like the deck roof painted white. It is much brighter especially at night.

I also made banana bread today - we had 4 very ripe bananas so I made 4 small loaves. Two were made with honey so hubby can eat some too. I am taking one loaf over to craft night tonight because they always complain when I talk about making something and they don't get a sample!

Speaking of craft night - I have lots of show and tell with the swaps I have received and those i have ready to mail. My project tonight is Ludvina's Legacy. I got one side of the border on today and hope to get the other three sides done tonight. That would be so exciting to have that done!

WooHoo!

Yes, the roof is done! I am so jazzed about that one!!! After finishing that I did the eaves above the first wall I painted and then after a little break I started on the walls on the deck. Didn't get all the way around because I was pooped and besides it was sprinkling so I couldn't paint anymore! On top of that I need a couple more brushes. Since we are not paying someone to paint the house I get to buy whatever brushes make the job easiest for me so I am going to shower and head to the store to get some. Maybe I will stop at DQ and get me a blizzard - I do deserve one!

Started sewing a quilt today. I am not sure who or what it will be for but I just felt like putting some pieces of fabric together and it can't hurt to use up scraps! I started putting 2 inch squares into 4-patch blocks which I am putting together with 3.5 inch squares into bigger 4-patches. I will either put them together like this little quilt or add sashing between the larger 4-patches. It depends on how I feel when I get a few more done!

Back to Painting

I just had a one day reprieve from the painting. Sunday I got a lot more of the roof done and some green. Yesterday I finished the first coat on the rest of the roof and did a first coat on the walls around the deck. I ran out of paint in my bucket about the time I ran out of steam so as you can see on the left I only made it to the window. I figure the left side of that window will get done later when Larry is around because the down spout needs to be gone for me to get that part done anyway. I am liking the color more and more (a good thing) and am excited to get more done - even if it exhausts me each day!

I now have both my minis for August done and the center block for the SFRR2. They will all go in the mail sometime this week. I have been working on Ludvina's Legacy as I watch the Olympics - and other things - and I am now putting together the fourth strip for the outside edge. I should finish that today and be able to start putting them on! WooHoo! Then that will be put away for awhile so I can get some other things finished.

You should be proud of me - I was invited to join another swap group today - and I declined! I know it is a shock since I have been quite the little joiner of late but I think I am at my max right now! I do need to finish some other things too!

Too damp to paint

I am getting a reprieve from my painting due to damp weather. There was some rain overnight and they say we could have more today which means the humidity is too high to paint. Instead I spent the morning in my sewing room and got my center block for Spring Fling Round Robin 2 ready to mail. And because I ended up with extra pieces from that and I liked it so well I decided to use it for my other mini quilt for August. You are just getting a sneak peek of one of them here because we are not supposed to show the whole thing for SFRR2 this time. This is because participants were allowed to include preferences so one might recognize one's quilt before it arrived and spoil the surprise factor. I didn't really give any preferences because I am not too picky so any of them could be mine!!!! But it is hard to just to a sneak peek all the same. The mini is basted and ready for quilting so I hope to get the part done this evening and then maybe the binding tomorrow so it is ready to mail with the SFRR2 center and my other mini which I finished yesterday.

Now it is time to get in the shower and do some running around.

Well, people, I feeling pretty good about what I got done today, paint-wise. I did the second coat of green on the wall and then finished my primering since the 'boss' brought home another gallon last night. And then I did the second coat on 20 of the deck roof squares and then used up the white I had poured on first coats. I now have 30 with a first coat!

I did get started on my SFRR2 center square last night. It took most of my time to figure out what I wanted to do. Then I did my cutting and got a start on the sewing but I was just too tired to continue. I am nearly finished with the hand sewn mini for August as of last night so things are going pretty well on that front.

Now I need my shower and some food!

Progress and a little quilt!

Here it is - the new color of our house. If you don't like it please don't tell me - it is hard to choose a paint color. We are happy with it and hopefully will remain so as long as we live here! It really looks better in person. This side gets the afternoon sun so it is hard to get a good picture. I gave this one coat today and also got the first coat on 22 1/2 of the 90 roof sections over the deck. It was just getting too warm this afternoon to paint anymore. I hope to get another coat on the wall tomorrow and maybe the first coat on another 22 1/2 sections. If it doesn't get too warm I might even do more.

This is the little quilt I received in the Small and Scrappy Exchange. It is from Susan. This isn't a great picture either! The backing is Little Red Hen fabric and so cute. With this quilts arrival I just have 2 more out there from last month that I am waiting on. There will also be a center block for Spring Fling Round Robin 2 coming soon and I need to get mine made and in the mail in the next week! I think I might do that this evening - at least the making part!

I have spent the last two days primering the roof of our deck. A total of about 9 hours of overhead painting! There are 90 'squares' in the roof and all but 3 are finished. I ran out of primer so I couldn't finish those last three. Having it primered gives us an idea of how much brighter it will be on the deck even on those gray days in winter.

Today I think I will paint one of the walls so I feel like I am getting something accomplished. If I try really hard I could get both coats on it even. I will post a picture later so you can see what color the house will be when I get done in a few weeks.

I have been working on one of my August mini quilts. This one is supposed to be totally hand sewn. It is an different take on a traditional pattern. It is turning out pretty well, but I can't show pictures until I know it has been received.

One more arrived

Today was a good mail day - I received my mini quilt from laurajay in New Brunswick! Isn't it cute! It is 3-D even!

I picked it up on the way to the paint store to spend lots of money that equates to lots of work for me! I bout 18 gallons of paint for the outside of our house. And that doesn't count the primer I need to do first. I got started on the primering today and got the bare siding done on the deck side of the house. There is a little bit more primering to do on siding but lots more to do the deck roof which has been waiting for 6 years to get done!

Yesterday I got more quilting done on the SIL quilt and I put the binding on since the rest of the quilting is either hand quilting or not close to the binding. So far things are going well with the quilting. I have started working on the handsewing of the binding and also tying off the tails from the quilting.

I couldn't add pictures for some reason yesterday but when I tried again this morning it worked! As an update - I finished the binding on the SIL quilt so now I can figure out the rest of the quilting!

Here it is!

I am liking this little bed! It isn't too high for Lucy to jump up on readily either so she can nap there while I type away the computer. That will keep her happy!

It sort of feels like I didn't get much done today but only because nothing is really finished! Yesterday I pieced the back for my SIL's quilt and today I got it pin basted and then decided to go ahead and do some machine quilting. As I went along I decided I would do as much machine quilting as I can in the ditch and then in the larger space I will do some hand quilting. It is going pretty well and I look forward to getting it done and ready for her visit in September.

After that, I felt like I should do something outside so I picked what was left of my raspberries and then cut back the old canes. It is now ready for a serious weeding and then we need to put in new posts and some wires to hold it all up next year. There are a lot of new canes that will have the berries on next year!

Hubby painted the metal bed frame for me today so maybe tomorrow we can get it moved into the house and decide whether we need a box spring or not.

Yesterday I tested three different green paints for the outside of the house. Yesterday I had decided but the hubby wasn't as sure. Today he came to the same conclusion I had yesterday so tomorrow I will go and get the paint while it is on sale. I will need to get in gear and start getting the painting done. There is some primering and then I will probably be doing two top coats on the whole house!

I have been working on the borders for Ludvina's Legacy and I have one put together and have started on the second. It is going pretty quickly so I hope to get them done and on the top so I can put that away for a while.

Oh, I forgot to add that I received my little quilt from sheila in Australia in the Four Seasons Quilt Swap Summer edition. It is just lovely and came with lots of wonderful goodies including the cutest little bag with lots of great embellishments.