One of my own ...

Has anyone noticed that I have not been posting my stash reports?  Well ... I have taken a short break from them, and promise to catch up in a couple of weeks.  Although I haven't been posting by week, I have been keeping track of what I use, and have purchased no fabric in the last couple months ... Yep, you read that correctly!  Haha!!!

I finally got to quilt one of my own quilts a couple weeks ago ... Remember this from last year?  I made it over the summer while my daughter was home recouping from pneumonia.

This has turned into one of my favorite quilts.  I love the color combination.

A lot of these taupe fabrics I got for sale on the Bunny Hill website ... I didn't know what I was going to use them for, but they were too good of a deal to pass up!

One of my favorites in this quilt is the gray with black polka dots ... called Little Black Dress from Moda.

I used Suoerior Omni thread in a tan color ... Free motion stippling.  For my own quilts, I seldom choose something intricate.  I really like an all over, simple pattern, and am so excited to just get it done!  The stipple is a very easy pattern for me ... It's the quickest one ... I can crank it out pretty fast!

Love the back as much as the front!

I was not happy, however, to find I hadn't prepared any binding.  Not a problem ... After I trimmed it, I used all my leftover scraps for the binding!

Made even easier using my 2 1/2" accucquilt die ... Presto magic

...

I stagger the colors and before you know it it's getting sewn down ...

Now comes the fun stuff, hand sewing the binding to the back.

Thanks for letting me gush about one of my own quilts!!

A quilt!

Yes I have been longarming ... I did this customer quilt last week ...

Isn't it adorable?  A block of the month by JoAnn Mullaly from a couple of years ago ... The pattern is Alphabet Tags.

Look how cute ... I doodled around the stitchery in each block ...

Just did a little curly swirl all over the rest of the quilt.  Love that owl block!

I love to work on quilts that have so much interest ... Makes it fun to see what's coming up next ... Used my favorite Superior Omni thread in the top and bobbin ... One of my favorite colors, Bronco.

Didn't she do a beautiful job!  It's such an adorable quilt! 

Anybody want a beagle?!!  Haha

Happy Monday

Well hello!  Happy Monday to you ... Last Friday we started a minor kitchen project.  After living here for 23 years, we are replacing our countertops.

Plywood went on the top

I really liked that our contractor left me a solid top for the weekend ... All except for the missing sink!!  How many times a day do you walk to your kitchen sink and throw something in it, rinse something, or ...????  I can't tell you how many times I turned that way to throw something in the sink and remembered I don't have one!

Here's my temporary coffee station ... Thank goodness for Starbucks Via's ... They are pretty good for instant!

And here's the stuff we need every day ... 

Cereal, fruit, plastic silverware (hallelujah) and dog biscuits!!

Today we have cement board and a sink ...

But there's no faucet yet !  Haha ... I love my new sink though.  Hoping it will all be finished by Wednesday ... Not holding my breath, but ever hopeful!  Haha

I have been sewing and loving it ... But I can't show you what I'm working on ... It's top secret for now!

My baby turned 21 yesterday ... She has been studying in Greece for 5 weeks and came home just in time to celebrate!  I love her and am so proud of her!

Life is a little crazy and disjointed right now ... That's what summer seems to always bring us!  I'm holding on and enjoying the ride!!

Randomness ...

Aacckk ... How has a week gone by?  Ok ... I am not even going to apologize again!  My hubby works for the school district and he is home during the summers ... Enough said, correct?  He is really just a large child and has many plans for his time off ... Many of these projects seem to have my name on them too ... Brother!!

Did some sewing yesterday on a mystery quilt I am teaching in August ... Of course it's a mystery, but I can share this with you ...

Don't you love how I lined that design up so it was right in the center of the middle block!?  Hahaha ... Not ... It was purely by accident!

Musings and catching up ...

Hi all ... We were on vacation last week to the Seattle/Tacoma area and to Victoria, B.C.  We had visited Victoria when the kids were young and realized it was someplace we needed to return and spend some time.  While we enjoyed the scenery in WA, the area is being hit by a heat wave and it was just too hot for me! Sorry we are pampered San Diegans spoiled by a near perfect climate!

We spent 3 days in Victoria and had such a good time!  We left our car in Port Angeles and relied on just walking around Victoria on foot.  The weather was beautiful ... Cooler than San Diego and they claimed it was hot for them.  We stayed at the lovely Empress Hotel.

I felt like I was in England!

While there hubby had promised we would have tea at the hotel.  Their tea is a very big deal and they serve 600 to 900 people a day (if I understood the hostess correctly).  We made reservations and I was so excited.  My husband, not really ... Haha ... He was such a good sport, but the tea menu is really not something he would usually eat.

A listing of the teas you could pick from ...

They're beautiful china.  They have a set menu, the only thing you have your choice of is tea.

It was all delicious and by the time we got to dessert, we split one of everything and saved the rest for later in a doggy bag.  They also send everyone home with tea bags of their Empress Tea ... Their house blend.  Yummy and their most popular tea.

We spent lots of time just walking and sightseeing ... I did a little shopping .... I did see a quilt store, but I honestly cannot think of buying any more fabric right now!  I have been doing some journaling and planning in a calendar, basically scrapbooking.  I found a couple of really nice paper/stationery stores that had lovely things that you don't see so much here.  Came home with a little loot ... I'll show you a peek from one of the stores ...

Addicting as quilting I tell you ... It is helping me through my life right now.  I fell like I am just overwhelmed with everything ... So I have retreated a little to regroup.  This happens sometimes, and I think it is important to listen to ourselves.

I am trying to play catch up from being gone, but didn't want you all to think I had forgotten you!  I'll be back later with more of my travels ... I have more to share!  And also catch you up to date on what I have been sewing.

In the meantime I'll leave you with this sweet picture of my granddaughter ...my son has had 3 weeks of visitation, and after this week, they go to 3 times a week, but still supervised by mom ... Weird I think, but that is the way it is done.  He is really enjoying finally being able to see her ... It warms and melts my heart.

Happy 4th of July!

I know I've been absent but we have been on vacation.  I'll be back this week but just wanted to wish you a Happy Indeoendence Day!

Stash Report - Week 25

And just like that another week is done!

Used this Week: 0 yard

Used year to Date: 74 1/8 yards

Added this Week:  0 yards

Added Year to Date: 32 1/3 yards

Net Used for 2015: 42 1/4 yards

Same as last week .. Nothing in or out! 

I had to laugh because I was sewing on my APQ quilt along yesterday; making some more blocks as I had stopped making blocks and started putting quilt together.  I always chain stitch ... Lay everything out in front of me and then sew away ... Look what happened:

Three out of these four blocks have duplicate fabrics in the solid squares!  I just left them that way because it's not going to matter in the long run!  I crack myself up!

APQ Quiltalong - Update

Hi!!  I have worked on this quilt twice this week!! I love the way it is coming together!

It is taking a long time to put it together ... Part of it is the size and trying to get it laid out on the floor!  There are 22 rows, and I think I have 8 here!  The other part is that the blocks are rather small within the larger block, and so I am opening all the seams ... That takes a ton of time!  I'm trying to not hurry and enjoy the process.

It's going to look great on my bed!!  I am shooting for the end of July to have it done.  What have you been working on?

I took some hand sewing to a friend's the other day.  It is a cute little kit I bought on impulse at the Del Mar craft and quilt show a month ago.

My blanket stitch leaves a little to be desired, but I got a few ladybugs done.

They are super cute, aren't they?!

My life

I try to not say too much about my personal life ... I do want you to know me, but this is mainly a quilting blog.  I don't like to burden you sweet folks with what happens in all areas of my life.  

My son has a 2 year old daughter from a relationship he was in; he was engaged to be married and it didn't work out.  It has been a tumultuous 3 years and in January he moved back to Michigan to be able to see her.  Without going into detail, the child's mother did not like this and has tried to prevent all contact.  Six months later, he finally got a positive ruling and has visitation of his daughter.  It is supervised visitation, and in 4 months they go back to mediation to

review.  I am hoping at that point he has regular visitation and some form of shared custody.

This has been such a hard thing in our family; we have a granddaughter that we have little contact with.  I have visited her 3 times, my husband only once.  I send her things all the time, but once my son ended the relationship, and moved back there in January, our family was cut off pretty much.  I get hardly any videos or pics from mom, and no contact anymore from the grandparents.  Of course I have hurt feelings ... But I made an important realization this last week.  All I want is a relationship with my granddaughter; the rest of the stuff is just stuff.  I will do whatever I need to do to have a relationship with Kylee; if I have to see mom, I will; if I have to see grandparents, I will.  I know we all love this little girl ... I just want her to be a part of my family.  I don't know why people do what they do ... I choose to forgive and move on.  Hopefully my actions towards mom make it easier for her to accept that Kylee has family that love her and she can see that that is a good thing.  Don't get me wrong ... I have wanted to tell her off and stand up for my son.  In the end I realized it might make me feel better, but won't really change anything.!!  It's hard to be the bigger person; it's hard to be the voice of reason in your entire family!  But I know what is most important .. It's that little girl that is 2, that needs her daddy in her life.  She doesn't care about any of this other stuff ... She needs her entire family to love and be in her life.  I had the best grandmother in the world!  That's all I want to be, and I am!  Family is more important ... Yesterday my son finally saw his daughter for the first time since October, and after six months of battling and court appearances, etc.  it's going to be a long and probably bumpy road, but I know she is worth it!

Stash Report - Week 24

Again this week ... Nothing and nothing!! Did a little more seeing on my AOQ quilt along.

Used this Week: 0 yard

Used year to Date: 74 1/8 yards

Added this Week:  0 yards

Added Year to Date: 32 1/3 yards

Net Used for 2015: 42 1/4 yards

Stash Report - Week 23

Nothing!  It is impossible to sew and paint at the same time!!  Getting s lot of painting done, but no sewing!  I have a sample due for my June class, so I hope to get to that in the next couple days.

Used this Week: 0 yard

Used year to Date: 74 1/8 yards

Added this Week:  0 yards

Added Year to Date: 32 1/3 yards

Net Used for 2015: 42 1/4 yards

Think of all the money I'm saving not buying fabric!!

Last Quilt

I apologize for being absent so much lately ... my son and his girlfriend are visiting from Michigan, and in my free time when not running around with those lovelies, I have been trying to paint my family room/kitchen ... two coats of color on the wall - a change of color after the first coat.  I finally love it, but now I am onto the trim and have one more coat left.

It is with great sadness that I write this last post ... a dear friend, that started out as a longarm customer, passed away last week.  I had just talked to her a week ago to arrange a visit ... we were finally getting up to the northwest part of the country where she relocated last year.  I was so excited to get to see her and say hi.  She and her husband had decided to move there to be closer to their families.  I knew her lung cancer had come back, but the last she spoke of it a couple of months ago, she was going to start a new drug that was just being released off of trials.  True to her nature, she never mentioned a thing about not feeling well, or that even maybe this was the end ... but how do you say that?  I am just shocked ... and although she would not want anyone feeling sad for her, I do.  She had such a spirit and a love for life, and she just knew how to live.  She found quilting late in life, and I was her first teacher ... it was an honor to have her in my classes.  After a few, she quickly wanted to move past the beginner classes and challenge herself ... every new quilt she tried had to be something a little more difficult than the last.  Her seams weren't always perfect, and her top not always square, but she didn't obsess about it ... it was in the love of doing it, and she was going to get it done.  She never had an unfinished project!  When she lived in San Diego, her sewing machine sat in front of a huge bay window, and she just sat and sewed ... it was a lovely, airy and simple space ... fit her just perfectly!  When she moved to Oregon last year, I told her I would be happy to quilt for her still if she didn't mind mailing me her quilts ... she had said she was hoping I would as she loved everything I did.  She was so easy to please ... she always complimented my work, and while I appreciated the comments, anything I did to them would have been okay by her.  The simplest pattern she gushed over!!  She was just so appreciative!  She will be so missed ... I will remember the great fun we had together laughing and sharing stories, and her gift of friendship I am honored to hold in my heart.  It was an honor to quilt for her, but more so, to call her my friend.

This is the last quilt I finished for her ... I hope one of her friends will finish the binding so it can be counted as done like all the rest of her projects! 

There were so many patterns and fabrics in there, that I just tried to give the quilt texture ... It is free motion quilting ... My version of straight lines!

Border 

Inner border

She loved happy fabrics and this quilt just screams happy!

Stunning!

Another beautiful quilt ... I'll miss you, Judy.  

Stash Report - Week 22

Well here it is Wednesday and I have been MIA!  Because I have been ...

No, not robbed ... Painting!

I am painting kitchen and family room in preparation for new kitchen tile and sink being put in next week.  I bought 5 colors of paint samples, put them up, picked my favorite ... Painted one coat today and it is way too bright!  Heading to paint store tomorrow am with tile in hand and hope someone can help be find a better alternative!

I did do a little sewing on my APQ quilt along this week, but it was fabric already counted in my totals.  So nothing in or out!

Used this Week: 0 yard

Used year to Date: 74 1/8 yards

Added this Week:  0 yards

Added Year to Date: 32 1/3 yards

Net Used for 2015: 42 1/4 yards

Beautiful finish

It took me several days to get through this beautiful extra large queen quilt my friend gave me to quilt.  The colors are just so stunning ... I showed you a peek last week.  Eighteen bobbins later ...

I always love reaching the end of a quilt, and this one I was especially happy to be done with!  I love quilting lovelies, but I have to admit that having works of art in my home make me a little nervous.  I have 3 dogs ... They aren't allowed near the quilts, but still ... I'm afraid I'll drip something on one or an act of God will occur, or something!

This list has many pictures because I had to show you close up how many adorable fabrics were in this quilt. My favorite was this navy with white flowers.

And look at this adorable small blue flowered print.

How about the same fabric in grey flower print?

How about a geometric to balance out the flowers?

The geometry of it all is so amazing ... Needed to be softened by my signature swirl ... Remember my friend likes a really tight design.

Very hard to get all in one picture!

That navy!!!  I used Omni Superior thread in the color natural white ... Not as bright as their white ... A perfect match and between the bobbins and the top ... I used 3/4 of a cone!

The next time I whine about my hard work, and sometimes how tedious it can be ... Don't feel too sorry for me!  I get to work out of my home, surrounded by my stuff and my furry friends, and I have the pleasure of making my own hours.  Don't you feel sorry for me?!