Need fabric?

Of course, who needs more fabric???

I received an email from Needllove and they are having a fabulous sale which I thought I'd share with you.

Dozens of fabrics are $5/yd, which is perfect for backings, in my world.


www.needllove.com


I have no relationship with Renee Nanneman and am getting nothing from this referral.  I just figured you might need some backing fabrics so I'd share it with you.  Yes, I will admit that I bought two different fabrics (note that she has them listed by half-yards... so my 12 quantity was only 6 yds!... yes there was more than one that I got...)

I even found a great fabric for the backing for my Triangle Gatherings quilt that I posted pictures of yesterday.

Happy Shopping.

Oh, and by the way, I am not getting any comments in my email box.  I have to go to the blog  post to find the comments. WEIRD...

Setting finally decided on

I'm not sure why but I've been agonizing over the setting for the 98 Triangle Gathering blocks that I made.  Clearly I won't put them all into one quilt. vbg

I finally decided on something very simple...  Here is just one section, so far:



I am putting them on point with a very simple light sashing cut 2-1/2" along with brightly colors cornerstones;  I'm also using brights for the setting triangles, to be different along each side.  I haven't decided yet how large I'll make it.  Maybe I'll just keep going until I get tired of it!! vbg

Today is an important holiday, recognizing those people who sacrificed so much for us.  I hope you are enjoying a wonderful long weekend and remembering someone who was a veteran!

A healing quilt and more blocks

A woman I used to work with was recently diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and I wanted to send her a quilt, to see her through her chemo.  I found this older quilt that has been folded up for years.  I thope she'll like it, even though it's a bit ancient!



The back was pieced from lots of scraps:


I also made a few more of those Bonnie addictive blocks.  That's not the name, of course;  that's what I call them. They take just a little time to prep but piecing them together takes maybe 5 minutes!

It's really fun to fussy cut the centers!  The flying geese fabric is from a friend's stash that she was liquidating about 6 yrs ago.  I'm happy that I can remember the source of some of my fabric, honestly!  Sometimes. ;-)


The center of this block is not pieced;  it's a Cotton and Steel fabric that I picked up in Maine last summer when I was visiting Wendy Reed.  They had it used in a border, which was very dramatic.  I've been waiting hoarding it until I decided what great use to make of it.  I only cut out a small square!


The center raccoon is a Tula Pink fabric.

Isn't this fun??

Back to California tomorrow for weekend babysitting!  YEAH!!

My mom is having a better week. She promised us no more trips to the Dollar Store (she thinks my husband's warnings are much more serious than mine!!  But oh well...whatever works!).   Thanks for your concern!

Sundays are for bindings!

Feeling kind of in-between projects (or unmotivated to get to work on the ones already in progress!), I decided to put the bindings on two quilts.

First of all, I FINALLY put the binding on the Quilt of Valor I made last year.  I even had a variegated red/blue thread that I used to sew down the binding (by machine!).


I think I found the setting online and am definitely pleased with how it turned out.  I've never met a star I didn't love anyway!!!

I'm mailing it off to Kevin the Quilter since he is the master of Quilts of Valor.


I also put on the binding on my little May Mini.  I'm going to sew that down by hand since I don't have any gold thread up here at the cabin... will probably do it on the car ride back to California on Thursday.


Yesterday I also made a couple of Bonnie's little addictive blocks! They really are fun and go together so quickly.  I love how they look laid out next to each other.
  


I love how this one turned out.  The center is, of course, an old French General fabric I've had.  The black filagree is from a very old pack of FQs I got but never used.  I fussy cut the pieces...

Here is how some of them are looking together!

Finally, a hike!!

My husband and I have been wanting to go for a hike forever but every time we've been at the cabin, there have been issues relating to the mom to make it impossible.

Today we decided was the day we were going.  We hiked about 7 miles to these beautiful falls called Tumalo Falls.

But first you have to enjoy this sign we saw along the trail!  I think it's a life lesson:  look, listen and smile!!





Max was a real trooper.  he did wade into the creek once which was a bit deeper than we thought but he managed to scamper out.  He will need to be groomed.  Dusty!!

I have done a little sewing this week and made my May mini!  I used 2" bow ties that I made years ago and had collected in a zip lock baggie.  There are still many more but I'm happy with how this turned out.  Now just need to quilt it
.

Next project is to go back to the triangle gatherings and work on my setting, which I'm still stumped on.  I suppose I could use only some of the  98 blocks in a quilt and use a couple of different settings. What a concept!!

My mom is not doing great.  I was told on Thursday that she wandered away from the facility and got lost.  She got it into her head that she had to go to the Dollar Store down the street (mind you, this street is a VERY busy thoroughfare!).  She doesn't believe that she got lost, denies getting confused and continues to lament her loss of independence (I completely understand but still... she had no alternatives!)  Oh and the first trip she made to the Dollar Store was after she went to Ace Hardware and got a complete stranger to give her a ride to the Dollar Store (no idea why...).  

Things are not looking great.  I did give her an id bracelet I'd ordered for her, just in case she wanders off again.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that she remembers that she shouldn't go out the front door.  It's still terribly sad, as I'm sure so many of you know from personal experience.  Getting old (she's 90) is tough and dementia is even more frustrating.  Thanks for listening...

Back to my machine!

Amazing pin cushion

I recently saw someone post about receiving this amazing pin cushion on Facebook.  Oh, I love the internet!

I did a little research, found out who makes them and ordered one.  It's like a little dress form!  I got to pick out the fabrics and trim!!  Love it!



This is a card for  Cindy Thompson, who made it for me.  


One of the first places I wanted to go in Bend was to Tuesday Morning, which I had heard was selling Benartex jelly rolls and charm squares.  I'm hoping it's "authentic" fabric, although I only bought two packages of charm squares (needed for Ryan!!)



Over the weekend, I read an article in the NY Times where they were reprinting outstanding  college application essays from high school seniors around the country.  I read this one and thought you'd enjoy it.  Hopefully you can read it.  This student reminisced about her grandmother's quilting.  It is very charming, I think.  Very impressive for an 18 yr old!


I've been working on using a bag of bow ties I made years ago.  My May mini!  Wendy Reed, take note!  Hope to  show you in a couple of days.

Happy Mother's Day

This seems like the perfect day for me to finally make a post on my blog.  Who knows where the time has gone, in a good way?  I have complaints (well, other than the usual ones...).

We had a fabulous day.  We had our grandkids over the weekend.  My grandson Ryan, who is 8, has been sewing up a storm.  He finished a bag for my daughter's friend this weekend (a project he's been working on for weeks).  He used charm squares, variegated threads, both my Juki and Janome, adorable cherry fabric for the lining.  I told him to make sure to get a picture of him with the woman and the bag!  [note we took the grandkids back to their house in SF;  when I came home, I found my little iron FACE DOWN on my pressing table.   Ryan needs to remember to TURN OFF the IRON!!) VBG

Here is a picture of me, my husband and our 4 grandkids.  Who wouldn't feel blessed??  Little Emma hates being in pictures... Can you tell?? vbg  
And, by the way, this is what San Francisco looks like.  And can you stand little Eli's tummy?? 


What have I been doing?  I finally finished ALL the 98 triangle gathering blocks!  YEAH!  Now to set them... Note that I didn't have an iron out to press these (I was in Hawaii for a quick trip and didn't bother with pressing)...   Read on for the story of my bobbin case breaking... UGH





What an enormous project.  Who knew, when I started, that it'd be 98 blocks?  My blocks are an odd size... 7" finished!!   I have gone back and forth on settings.  My latest idea is to just sash them and use bright setting squares.  Stay tuned.

so the story of my machine in Hawaii?
I bought a machine 10 yrs ago when we remodeled this condo that we purchased.  I only use it once every six months, when I go but every time it purrs.  This time, for an unknown reason, I decided it was time ti clean it and I took apart the bobbin area.  Went to put it back together and the bobbin case wouldn't stay put.  Thank goodness for the internet, Youtube and Google!  I realized my bobbin case was missing the little hook that slips into the little opening.  I was so lucky that I found one in Lihue and was able to replace it for all of $2.75.  I was ready to buy a machine and return in before I left!

The good news is that I found out that my little Kenmore machine, Less than $150, was made by Janome!! WHOOHOO.  Of course I didn't take a picture of the broken part.  But who ever heard of a bobbin case BREAKING???!!!

Anyway, we had a great mother's day.  I hope you did too, however you choose to celebrate it.  Even caring for animals makes you a mom, in my book!  (or a husband, for that matter!!).

Promise to post more the rest of the month.  Heading up to the cabin tomorrow for about 10 days...need to check on my mom!