Two bags full

 I'm delighted to say that I finished the second Hawaii bag ready to send to my friends in Kauai.  I still think they're a bit too small; one friend carries her laptop around as well as lunch.  I'm still trying to find the pattern I used previously to make the bigger bags I've made.

I'm pretty sure they'll be delighted but, of course, we are never completely satisfied, right?

The quilt beneath the one on the right is the one I recently finished, which I'm going to deliver to my newest granddaughter Leia next month in Virginia.  It's waiting for the binding to be attached.  The rolled up quilt to its left is the other quilt I finished for the Céçile et Corinne sew along that needs to be quilted.  I was unable to spray baste it in Sunriver because it kept snowing every day!! :-)

We are back in California so I can now share some of the wonderful fabrics I got at the closing sale of the quilt store in Bend -- have you heard of Tilda fabrics?  They're definitely not cheap and originally you couldn't even buy a FQ--only sold in yard increments!  I saw a really cute quilt they had done so I snagged a bunch--even at 50% off, they are pretty pricey!  I think it'll make an adorable girl's quilt!

I did manage to buy yards and yards of other fabrics.  Who can pass up 50% off??  But do you know that fabric is now selling for over $12/yd!!

I definitely don't need to buy any fabric for a while--we'll see how that goes!

I'm hoping to catch up with my Moda Blockheads this weekend and get the binding on and quilt the sew along quilt.

Have a great weekend.  Did I tell you I got my second booster!! WOOHOO.  Boostedx2!!

xxxx

An oxymoron?

 I figured that'd get your attention.  I'm really trying to be a better blogger so here I am posting again, although not a ton to mention.

Did you have a fun Easter?  Here in Central Oregon, spring takes forever to land.  It snowed every day last week!  It melted quickly but the temps were pretty much always in the 40s.

I showed you some scraps on my design wall and asked you to guess what they were going into... the answer?

A BAG.  I love making bags!  And I had decided to make two Hawaiian bags for two friends in Hawaii.  I've got one done.  In order to take a decent picture, I put it in the snow.  Hence the oxymoron... a hawaiian bag in the snow!!  VBG

They are all such fun fabrics!  I can't wait to show you the second one, which is almost done.  I'm afraid that the bag came out a little smaller than I'd wanted so next time I may have to use a different pattern.  Do you have a favorite bag pattern you like to use??

We had a beautiful sunset last week which I always enjoy.

Sadly, there's a local store in Bend that's going out of business and they reduced everything to 50% off.  I went last week when the discount was 40%!  I have my eye on a kit so I'm going to go tomorrow and be there when they open!!  Like I need more fabric, right??

Have a great week!!

xxxx

Catching up

 I find it exceedingly scary to think how fast time is going.  Of course the past two years has been a complete blur.  I know many people share in that emotion.  But to think that I haven't posted in a month?  Where did the time go?  I'm not going to dwell on the negative since I'm definitely a "glass is half full" kind of person!

So on my sewing front, I haven't done a ton of work but I have gotten some things done.  I of course couldn't pass up another Mode Blockheads.. It's the fourth time they're doing it and I cannot deny how much I love some of the past ones (well, I will also admit to not having done the third one!!).  I had a layer cake (my fingers typed "lawyer" automatically...hehe) from Betsy Chutchian and I've been using that and enjoying the fabrics.

And then I played with it on point.  I think it's so interesting to see how different a block can look just turned 90*!

These are 4-1/2" fin.

and on point:

For the next one,  I kept changing fabrics, auditioning variations and finally came up with this version:  it can use a serious pressing, so please ignore that!

Then there was a bonus block and in my typical fashion, I didn't carefully look at the diagram and made mine significantly more scrappy than the picture.  Oh well.  No right or wrong way, right?  No quilt police here!

I kind of like how it turned out but I felt like I'd not followed the directions carefully so I did another one, but only did it 4-1/2" (the larger blocks are 9").  I really like the idea of varying the sizes of the blocks.  I've made several quilts like that I think  are so much more interesting.  Of course, putting them together is a bit of a challenge, but I do enjoy that.

I love doing mitered corners (I know, a glutton for punishment!) so I mitered all these corners.  I feel like I followed the rules better in this version (am I being silly, or what??!!) so I'm including this one in the batch.

I have started doing a leader/ender project based on a quilt I saw on Facebook recently-- I'm sewing pinwheels (super fast and easy) and setting them with a light neutral.  I'm just using scraps and will keep going until I run out of the "solid".

I'm ready to quilt my Corinne et Céçile quilt and have it "sandwiched" but had a problem with the area I was going to lay it out to spray baste it together! HAHA!

We woke up to 6" of snow yesterday!  My bird customers were very happy that we returned to the house here in Sunriver as they now have a source of food without having to look very hard!  Not sure you can see how many birds there are but trust me: there are dozens!!

Anyway, the snow delayed my spray basting the quilt, which is rolled up and ready!

I did start another project which is on my design wall...any ideas??

Hawaiian themed...the bottom strips are for another project so don't be distracted by them!  I have a cute pattern for an easy quilt made of strips like these so I'm going to get back to that too.

Hope everyone is feeling well and starting to enjoy some spring weather.  I'm going to get my second booster shot this week so I can hopefully NOT get Covid!!  I also promise to blog again sooner than a month from now!

xxxx

Randy

My dog did eat my ... RECIPE

 Here's a great (non-quilt) story!  I had a recipe I ripped out of Sunset Magazine years ago that I loved for a soup with lentils, sausage, chicken, spinach etc.  I coveted this little ripped-out 2x3" scrap from a magazine.  I have been wanting to make it for a while and lamented that I didn't have it in Oregon.

So this week, when it was cool and rainy (I know, amazing in California, right??!), I pulled it out and honestly was loving on that little scrap of paper.  I made a list, went to the store and started the soup.  Stepped away from the kitchen, came back and the cherished scrap was GONE!!  YUP, my dear darling beast of a dog age the damn thing from the kitchen counter.  UGH.

Mind you, I had tried to find the recipe many times, googling it with no success.  Well, my dh, who spends way too much time online, saved the day and after googling for some time, he actually found the recipe online!! It's from Sunset magazine in 1986!  YIKES

Morale of the story is that everything has to be out of Zeke's reach or watch out! :-(

I did get my February mini done in plenty of time but didn't post the picture.  It's going to be a baby quilt for the new granddaughter in Virginia and I dropped it off at my longarm quilter extraordinaire, Sandy Lachowski!  These blocks were from the Jessica Dayon sew along ongoing now.    I'm loving he colors!

I originally was going to use them for the Corinne et Céçile project but I decided to make more blocks.  I"m in the process now of setting all 16 blocks.

I'm having fun playing with the cornerstones trying to make them look like stars and mixing up the colors.  These blocks are also from the sew along I've been doing with Jessica Dayon.

I hope you are all well and enjoying some spring weather.

Much love,

Randy

My dog ate my....

Good morning... let's play this again.  Exposed was such fun!!  I loved all the clever responses! Thanks for playing along!

My dog ate my....

my dog loves to snag any fabric that he can and last week he grabbed a 6" block I was going to appliqué--the stem was sewn down but not the leaf yet...so my husband grabbed the block out of his mouth but the leaf was GONE!!  GRRRR

I sewed more appliqué blocks for the Corinne et Céçile sew along ... I only have a couple more and I'm going to start putting it all together!

These were fun blocks to piece and appliqué down.  It's going to make a great quilt for the baby!

I've mentioned my dog to you many times--here's a chance to get a perspective on his size. There's a purple leaf in there somewhere! VBG

Hope you have a great week.  Did you watch the Super Bowl?  We enjoyed the game (can't say we're big football fans, though) and the food (!!) !~

Take care, stay healthy and SEW!

xxxx

What does exposed really mean?? And a GIVEAWAY

 I'm in a playful mood this weekend.  We were in Virginia, helping to care for our three young grandkids.  The middle son (only 2) was sick with a cold, fever, cough...yup--what would you think?  My daughter in law got him and the baby tested right before we left and only the baby tested positive.  So, we were exposed. YIKES!!  What to do? 

I honestly felt like a leper.  We flew back on Wednesday and I had to cancel my social events (always have to plan social events whenever possible!!) for the rest of the week and ISOLATE myself.  UGH.

We got ourselves tested just in case and both tested negative, but both my husband and I came down with horrible head colds.  I usually have a cold for maybe 24 hrs and then I'm good.  Not this time. I'm thinking that since I haven't had a cold in at least 3 years, my immunity was down.  

 We were hoping to see the other 3 grandkids this weekend but my daughter didn't want us to infect her kids with our cold germs. I get it.  They already were exposed to Covid..my oldest grandson was positive a couple of weeks ago.  Oh well.  We got to catch up and get organized for our return up to Oregon tomorrow!

So I did get some sewing done this weekend. WOOHOO.  Trying to finish the appliqué blocks for the Céçile et Corinne sew along.  I have most of the pieced blocks done already.  I'm going to put them together into a quilt for the new baby in Virginia.  The pieced blocks are being made according to the Jessica Dayon sew along. Colors are purple and aqua!!

I have three other blocks prepped and plan to sew them on our drive tomorrow.  Coming along.  These blocks are from Jo Morton's Prairie Flowers Encore.

So, what does exposed really mean?  I'm feeling silly, so bear with me:

From my days as a Public Defender, we used that term frequently in cases involving my clients who may have exposed themselves.  Then there is the problem when printing photos and they are over-exposed.  Of course, there's the problem of being exposed to Covid.  My fireplace is surrounded by exposed bricks. When I am out on a lake, I am often exposed to lots of sun and wind.  In the political arena, there are a number of politicians (who will remain nameless) who have been exposed as dishonest. My grandkids are attending a Catholic school and are getting exposed to very rigorous academic standards.  Ronan Farrow from the New Yorker exposed Harvey Weinstein's misdeeds (putting it nicely). When the tide is out, there are huge rocks exposed at our beach in Hawaii. 

Have any other ideas??  I'll send out a giveaway pattern to a random winner if you submit another play on exposed.  Just respond by Friday Feb. 11th.

Have a great week! Enjoy the Olympics!

January mini etc

 I have been busy--knitting-- rather than sewing.  I was preparing for our trip to help take care of our 3 grandkids in Virginia while my son does his marine reserve weekend.

I decided to knit hats for the kids.  I'm pretty sure I already showed you the pictures of the  2 Sesame Street hats.  My oldest, Eli, ripped off Elmo in about 2 minutes so that required surgery!

I finished the adorable baby hat for the 7 month old Leia.  And I'm calling that my January mini (I even cleared it with the "boss", Wendy...VBG).

My knitting skills really leave a lot to be desired and the baby's hat was too big and fit the boys whereas the boys' hats fit the baby.  :-(. I can't tell you how many sweaters I've knitted that are too short. I do enjoy knitting; I'm just not too great at it.  I will stick to scarves and washcloths I think!

Here are the 3 kids modeling their hats, temporarily anyway!

I did work on my first appliqué block for the Céçile challenge but I haven't pressed it so I'm not going to show you yet.  I sewed it on the plane to DC.  I'll share it once I'm back in California on Thursday.  I have done my pieced blocks already.  I prepped another block to sew on the plane going back to California.  Prepping appliqué work is always pretty time consuming!

Before I left, I was walking with some friends and took some pictures I thought were charming.  It was a foggy morning and the ducks were very happy!

Hope you're having a great week and staying healthy!

xxx