Preparing

Getting things ready for the trip to my sister's for our quilt block exchange reveal on Saturday. I will have a series of pictures of everyone's blocks after Saturday but today I can share my plan for the next round robin. You see, not only will we see all of our blocks from the last reveal but we will also be starting our next round robin.

This past year there were 10 in our group and we each chose a 'layer cake' and then everyone made 2 blocks for each person using those fabrics as the packets were sent around over the months.

This year we are each supposed to provide the background pieces for 12.5" Sawtooth Star blocks. We can also provide the star points if we want to. Then we choose what colors/style/theme we want for the center squares. I decided that I want 6 blocks with black star points and whites for the backgrounds and 6 blocks with whites for star points and blacks for the backgrounds so I got those all cut up and put into little bags as sets. Then I had to decide on the centers. I had been thinking brights as I planned and then when I pulled fabrics I found the bright rainbow-y stripe that I used for the grandkids' quilts this summer. I used that in my block along with some pink, green, blue and orange. It turned out pretty cool

until I went to add the star points and discovered that my block was 6.75" instead of 6.5". Instead of tearing it apart to try to make it smaller I decided to just make a different block. I think I like the new one better anyway!

Here is what the first one would have looked like with the points and background.

I haven't decided if I will end up ripping this block to make it the right size or not. That decisions will probably be made when I get all the blocks back and see if I want to make more blocks.


I am sending the striped fabric along also for people to use in their blocks if they so desire. I am also asking that the leftover triangles from the flying geese units be returned so I can use them as I put the quilt together. I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up getting other leftover triangles from this project also! Somehow I have gotten the reputation as the person who will take that sort of thing and use it!

Last one done!

Yes, I finished the last of the 5 Christmas quilt tops.

I also stopped and got some flannel to use for the back and it is currently in the washer. 


I am hoping to get the last bits of Christmas fabrics put away so I can take care of some other projects before I head out for the quilt reveal this weekend. 


The walls and the ceiling of the bathroom are clean and the holes are patched. Tomorrow I should get the sanding done and get things primed so I can do the spray on texture and get the painting done. 


I am already tired of using the laundry/bathroom for showers, etc.  after just two days!

Quilt Show Part 2 plus some

I spent last Friday in the sewing room. I got two comfort quilts basted and quilted. I even had one of the bindings finished before I headed for bed. Friday evening we went out for 'date night' and also picked up the paint for the bathroom. 


Saturday I spent several hours at the quilt show. I arrived in time for my first job only to find out I was told the wrong time so I had my hour to look at the quilts, check out the venders and take pictures at the beginning. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera and had to use my phone so the pictures are not the best. I mostly took pictures for future inspiration. Here are some of my favorites.

To see the rest of the pictures you can go to Flickr.


I had fun working at the show. I was one of the quilt turners. There were about 20 or more quilts laid out on a bed and as one guild member told the story of each of the quilts another member and I folded them back so the next quilt was revealed. Then I had to hustle over to the raffle table. It was fun talking with the guests as they were filling out their raffle tickets. I really enjoyed getting to know some of my fellow guild members a little. 


I was back at the quilt show as it closed on Sunday afternoon to help take down the quilts and the hangers. It is amazing how fast things come down when you have a huge crew helping. 


Today I spent the day on the road with Hubby fixing appliances or at least watching him fix them since he had an appointment this morning with the eye doctor and had his eyes dilated. This evening I got a little closer to finishing the last of the 5 Christmas quilt tops. I really hope I can finish tomorrow so the Christmas fabric can be put away for a while!


I really need to get some other projects finished like baby quilts, the label on Sally's quilt (the reveal is a week from tomorrow!) and my block for the next round robin - Saturday is the reveal for this past year's round robin and the beginning of the next.

Guild Quilt Show Part 1

But first, a bathroom redo update. The night before last Hubby got the bathroom sink drain all hooked up and it works! Last night he finished the rest of the cabinet work so today I can start loading it up so the drawers from the old vanity can get out of the guest room. He has some other ideas about customization but those will wait. We are pretty sure about paint color but today I will paint a larger area and do two coats of our favorite so we can be sure.

Yesterday morning I headed out to the fairgrounds to deliver my quilts (no one ever called me to drop off their quilts) and help with setting up the show. 

The first job was laying out all the quilt stands and getting them hooked together. At one point we had to call in everyone so we could move one section with one person for each upright. Wish I had a video of that to post! Once things were set-up and straight we started distributing the quilts to their spots. We had great maps but it was so easy to get turned around!

Then the quilts started going up. There are spots for 12 extra long quilts (over 90") and my Out of the Darkness quilt was chosen for one of those spots. The funny thing is, someone else made one from the same pattern and the plan had them hanging back to back but as we were hanging them we made an executive decision to have them hanging side by side for comparison. Here they are:

Mine is the one on the right. The main difference is that she hand-quilted hers and I had mine machine quilted by my friend Deb Barth in Montana.


We had about half of the quilts hung by lunch time and after a quick break for a delicious box lunch we headed back to the quilts and finished the hanging. As the quilts went up it was hard for all of us to stay focused on hanging and not stop to examine the quilts!


Once things were up there were some adjustments. There were also about 4 quilts that never showed up for hanging so we found Community Quilts (charity quilts) to hang in their places. A last check for extra poles or empty bags, etc. and we were done.


There are a lot of great quilts in the show and I will be bringing my camera tomorrow when I will be there to do a couple of volunteer shifts. I definitely need pictures of a couple of great scrap quilts.

Installation

I don't know what happened yesterday but I didn't ever make it into the sewing room! I did get the garden roto-tilled one more time and finished the mowing so if I don't get those jobs done again this year it should be okay!


I did get the hanging sleeve sewn on the largest of the quilts for the show. I need to finish up the last two today since they need to be at the show tomorrow am between 8 and 9. I got a call from the guild member in charge of volunteers for the show and I am now signed up to help set-up the show tomorrow and then on Saturday I will be turning quilts (not sure exactly what that means) for 1/2 hour and selling raffle tickets for two hours. Then I think on Sunday I have to pick up the quilts again.


My husband had a slow day at work yesterday so he went to work on the plumbing and cabinet adjustments and by evening the new vanity was in place.

Now it isn't totally ready to go. The water is hooked up but Hubby didn't have ABS cement so the drain isn't finished. The top drawer needs one of its rails reattached and the vanity also isn't attached to the wall and the sink isn't attached to the vanity so that we can pull it out when I paint. We haven't been able to find a hickory medicine cabinet, just a mirror so hubby might replace the oak on our current medicine cabinet with hickory. 


Today I plan to get some paint samples to help decide what color we want and then we will start taking everything off the walls so holes can be patched and then I will paint! Then we need a new light fixture, shower curtain, drawer/door pulls, tp holder, etc. Oh, and there will be two new doors and trim that needs to be taken care of. We might have it done by the end of the year!

A Snag

So yesterday had its ups and downs. One up is that I finished the 4th Christmas quilt top. I even got a little done on #5. Maybe that will get finished today.

Once that was done I created hanging sleeves for the three quilts heading to the quilt show on Thursday. Now they just need to be sewn on.


I also spent some time outside and got all my berries weeded. The garden is looking good for fall, in fact, it is looking better than it has in years! I am hoping to keep it roto-tilled over the winter as weather permits.


The down came a bit later in the day, after dinner. Hubby and I were discussing the floor and whether we should get new flooring. Hubby said it wouldn't be too much trouble to take out our current 48" vanity and sink so we could put the new one in to make our decision. Famous last words! Got the old one out and there was the requisite 20 years of dust underneath. (A hidden upside to the night was getting the drain cleaned out so our current sink will drain better.) Moved the new one (36") into the room and here is what we  saw...

Yes, 2 of the 3 plumbing components under the sink run into not only the back wall of the cabinet, but the drawers themselves! Very disheartening. We headed back to Home Depot to see if there were any options out there. The answer was no, unfortunately. You can't order a cabinet that is a mirror image (which would work) and they didn't have a 48" option. The two guys helping us did give Hubby some ideas for adjustments. 


We made a stop at Lowe's before heading home just to see if they had anything different. They did have a 48" option but because bathroom vanities/sinks are now a couple of inches deeper than they were 20 years ago that would cause problems with the door trim and would make the bathroom even more crowded feeling than it is currently.


After sleeping on it, Hubby has come up with some fresh ideas that might work for adjusting the 36" cabinet so we will see what comes of that today.

Looking nice

I still haven't finished top #4 but there has been progress in the bathroom. Yesterday Hubby took care of that small leak and then covered the wall with hardy board and with some finagling we were able to get the cabinet in place. Doesn't it look nice?

In the evening we headed into town to get some supplies and decided to pick up the vanity and sink/counter top so we could pick a paint color that will go with it. The top is granite and the vanity is hickory. When the box came off Hubby discovered a few modifications that will have to be made to accommodate our plumbing under the sink. 

We are pretty sure about our faucet but haven't picked that up yet. I am not sure about how the granite will look with our current floor. The color is okay but this is kind of fancy and our flooring is commercial vinyl like you would find in a hospital. It is still in good condition but we are a little tired of it so we might decide to redo the floor too. I think we will be going with a greyish paint for the walls with our usual white trim. Before a final decision is made on paint I will have to get a test sample and put it on the wall.


Today after church and grocery shopping I got everything put into the cabinet that we installed yesterday. It isn't as deep but it is higher so it is about the same amount of space as we had before. We will see if we like how things are placed but I think this will work. 

Since I got the grocery shopping done today and a couple of other errands I hope to be able to stay home tomorrow and get some gardening and sewing done. I got the garden roto-tilled last week and mowed some grass but there are weeds around the plants that should be gotten rid of this week before the rain starts again. I am not sure if Washington's nickname of the Evergreen State has to do with the trees or the weeds!