More Recuperation Needed!

This week my house needs the recuperation! I didn't do much around here last week as I worked on quilts and getting ready for the quilt show. I quilted and finished 4 quilts last week! Then I sort of trashed the sewing room and the rest of the house getting things for the show. And after the show I just brought all the quilts, etc. in and dumped it. I think all the quilts are put away but the sewing room, that is another story!

First, here are three of the quilts I got finished before the show. These are all ones that I had available for sale if anyone was interested. One of the others I finished was just quilting and binding for a friend but it was hanging in the show also.

The show itself went very well. Lots of people came and lingered. Overall we raised about $600 for the American Cancer Society! I will admit that I prayed for rain so people wouldn't be able to work in their yards but I don't think that is so wrong, is it? I never got around to taking pictures once all the quilts were hanging but I took some during set-up and you can see those here.

Catching Up

I am back home and almost recuperated from my time as a single mother of 2 little ones! I had a great time with the kids but boy do they wear you out! Their parents had a good time in NYC though it was too short (for them, not me!). I decided to make a detour on my way home to my sister's house to help my niece celebrate her 18th birthday. I even had the honor of making her pirate duck birthday cake.

I left there at 8 AM on Saturday and got home about 1 PM and fell on the bed exhausted! After a little rest my husband took me out to dinner and a movie.

Yesterday it was church in the morning and after a second cup of coffee I got two more quilts basted and ready for quilting. Today I hope to get at least one quilted and maybe two. I would like to have all three done before the quilt show on Saturday.

Here are pictures of the quilts I've gotten finished since the quilt retreat. I got the quilting done while my granddaughter was here and finished up the bindings while watching the kids at their house. This first one is a baby quilt. The large squares are made from some golfing bear fabric I have had for a long time.
This is a fun wall hanging from the book Dare to be Square. I am sure I will make more from this pattern.Here is another baby quilt. This one is an adaption of the Chatterbox pattern in the Dare to be Square book. I used some sock monkey fabrics that were given to me a couple of years ago. And lastly, this is a table topper made from fabrics my daughter gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago. It will be on the trunk we use as a coffee table in our living room. It is another adaption from Dare to be Square. Well, time to get busy at the quilting machine!

Look what I made!

This is what I have gotten done while I have been watching the kids. Owl hats for both kids. They seem pretty pleased.

Whirlwind

Wow! I am finally getting a moment to breathe but only a moment! Had a great time at the quilt retreat and got 5 of my 7 projects done. That is pretty good! That is just the tops but a start. I had a bit of a cold but it didn't really slow me down. Here are a couple of pictures of the tops on the wall.

My daughter and son came up to the camp on Sunday to bring my granddaughter up so she could come home with me for a week. That explains my lack of posting this past week! I was lucky to read other people's blogs and my email and Facebook posts but that luck did not extend to writing blog posts! That little girl kept me busy from the time she got up until she went to bed and then I was ready to sleep too!

I did get some crocheting done - several pairs of mittens - and a bit of quilting but not too much. I had to fit it in when my little one was napping or playing outside. I did finish off this little quilt. It was one of the projects from the retreat.Its home is on the old trunk we use as a coffee table in our living room. I got three more of the tops from the quilt retreat quilted and I will post pictures once I get the bindings finished this week (I hope!).

Purging

I didn't get anymore quilting done but I have been busy. I should finish that binding this evening at craft night. I did some fabric shopping on Saturday and got a back for another quilt and also a nice green fabric for my stash. On the way I dropped of quilt show flyers with the quilt guild president since I will be missing the March meeting tomorrow since I will be gone for quilt retreat. She asked me about the string quilt blocks that I had promised to make for a charity quilt so when I got home I started working on those. I had been told that there was no rush but they have received a request for graduation quilts for foster kids so it seems there is a bit of a rush. I have focused on those and today finished the piecing. The pattern chosen was for a spider web quilt like this and I made enough for a twin size quilt I think. I have trimmed all the blocks on one side and will finish the other two sides when I get back home or I might bring them along to the retreat.This picture shows the clippings from just that first side!


When I finished those triangles I went through my smallest scraps and purged a lot! They are already in the trash and hauled out to the shed! They will not come back in. I decided I needed new standards for what is the smallest piece I will hang on to. A piece can be no smaller than 1" X 2 - 3". I am sure than many would say that is much too small but I will start with baby steps! I will also try to stay caught up on using them to make up blocks for quilts.

In the last few days I also made about 20 stemware coasters out of some of my 4.5" squares and worked on some mittens.

I realized a couple of days ago that I haven't done a tally of my finishes for January so I will take care of that and February's finishes after the weekend.

My March will be pretty busy with the retreat this weekend, I will be bringing my granddaughter home with me for next week and then the following week I will be at my daughter's being a single mom caring for both grandkids, my dog, the granddog and grandcat for several days. We will see how much of my sanity is left after that! When I am back home from there I will have a week to get the quilt show organized and then a few more days left in the month to recuperate before I have both grandkids here for their spring break. Then I am hoping things will be a little calmer for a few weeks but I am sure something will get planned!