Weeks recap and update

Having fun and getting stuff done.  Feels good I tell ya.  :)    Okay so the thing I've been working on the most is the train quilt and .... you'll have to read on to see if it's done.  ha ha.

Okay - when I left off I had started some of the inside of the train quit then we left for Vegas and then relaxed for a couple of days and then back at it.

Friday the 11th - I worked on my Christmas quilt and was able to finish the Santa Block

Then I worked on the Bell Block -

And then the Sleigh Block

After I got home I printed out and prepped the 1st Block in a new Quilt A Long over at Moda.  Called Bee-Utiful QAL.   Here is their first block:

Here is my first Block:

(I actually didn't finish it until  Thursday)

Then on Saturday the 11th I worked more on quilting of the train quilt.  I got all of the inside done.  Now to do the borders.  That will include the lettering and to quilt a train track.

Sunday the 12th -
I laid it out and stared at it off and on Saturday evening and all the sudden I realize I had quilted clouds in an area that I thought was sky.... but it wasn't.

So I took that out and re-quilted that area in a different way.

After that I worked on the letter and I got about 1/2  of the borders done just a little more to go.

Monday the 13th:  Continued working on quilting I finished the lettering made tracks and quilted the wheels on the trains.

Tuesday the 14th: I had the guild meeting so had to do some paperwork for that and then finished the quilting of the train quilt and got the binding on. :)    Ya - Just in time for Show N Tell at the meeting.

Wednesday the 15th:   Well I've been looking for a hunk of material that a friend gave me and needs a piece of it back. It's red and white check with Ants on it.  I thought I knew where I put it, in a bin - but no I just can find.  So as I keep looking I start cleaning up this and that and organizing.  Then I organize my wool that I meant to do a couple of weeks ago.  Then I prepped my next Buttermilk Basin Block that I thought was supposed to come out last month on the 3rd Friday - Well it came out on the first Friday of this month so not sure - but they may be sending out a 2nd one this month.  Any way here's the block.

Then I prepped a Turtle block I've been wanting to do for a while.

Then I Stitched on the T Block and the Bee Block.

Oh and I finished the embroidery that I started in April and so I put a back on it and I'm going to make a little pillow out of it.

Thursday the 16th:  I did a little more organizing - and started sorting and wrapping some of my scrap embroidery thread.  I  used to cross stitch big projects and when I would get done with one I would put the thread in this bottom bin.  And when I just need a small amount of floss for something I'll dig through here and pick out some.  (Rats nest really)

Well low and behold I started wrapping them around the little plastic cards.  It didn't make a dent.  But I would stitch a little and wrap a little - I had fun so I guess that's all that counts.
Then I got stuff ready to take to the Cottage for Friday and Saturday.  Friday is our normal sew day and it charity day.  I'm going to work on my baby quilt that I am hand quilting.  And also I want to sandwich and pin a couple of the charity tops I made so I can get them quilted.

Friday - Well I got help pinning the quilts so I did get two pinned and ready to go.  I would have gotten the 3rd one done but I forgot the backing. Then I was just going to use some other backing from the charity closet but we ran out of my basting pins. So that's okay it will take a little while to do these two anyway.  After that I worked on the hand quilting of the baby quilt.

Saturday  - Well today is the 3rd Saturday that we used get together and have  a potluck and sew at the quilt shop. Well since the shop isn't close by anymore we are gathering at the Cottage.  It was great fun.  I made a pillowcase to go with the train quilt.

Then I worked on a wall hanging for my friend and neighbor.  She loves Bee's and Beehives and dragonflies..

That was it. I just need to put the binding on and then It will be done.  Then I'll need to have a binding party to hand sew the binding on it and the train quilt so they are completely done.  I'll be home for the next few days and there is an ecessive heat advisory so I guess that means I'll need to stay in and play with my quilting.  Ah Shucks.  :)
Have a Blessed day and I'll keep you posted on what I do next.
Lynn

Quilt Prepper

I've said more than once that there are times I like the prepping almost better than the actual doing.  I'm a plan-a-lot-amus.  I love the planning and prepping process of a new project, which I'm sure goes a long way in explaining why I have so many UFO's that I've started.  :)  Well now that I've exposed my flaws maybe I should show what I've been up to the last few days.  Well last Wednesday was the 1st of the month and I did my post for my monthly goals and then in the afternoon, I started looking thru my patterns and some books to see what I wanted to prep for blocks from this months UFO.  Christmas Quilt from Cheri Saffiote Payne.

This picture already has some substitutions in it,   Here is the original picture that is included in the pattern from Cheri. 

One of the things I've had to relax with, is that it's okay to make a quilt my own and change things around.  :) So in this one I am changing things as I did in my Sweet Land of Liberty.  I will be doing some from the original pattern, some from the quilt above and some that are in different patterns all together.  So that's what I did on Wednesday afternoon, I looked for patterns I wanted to use.   On Thursday we had to have the plumber come.  We have really hard water here and years of it had beaten up a couple of our faucets. And since it means literally cutting fixtures off it's not just a simple replace job.  What does it mean when you're on a first name basis with the plumber and his helper.  We make jokes about being invited to their family BBQ's  :) :(.
But after the 3 hours it took them to replace the kitchen faucet and an outside one, I went in a started prepping the blocks I had picked out for the quilt above.
Here's what I came up with:

Then Friday I worked on the block that was already prepped when I pulled out this UFO -  I didn't get very much sewn but here's what I did.

Saturday Hubby and I drove down to Lake Havasu for the Grand Opening of Fabrics Unlimited in their new location.  I love how they have put the new shop together.  And can you believe I did not grab any photos.  RRRR   But I do have this one that I took when we were helping to move them, it will have to do until I can get more.

Sunday - I just laid low.  I wasn't feeling wonderful and so I tried to nap and couldn't and really just couldn't even find the energy to stitch.

Monday - I had to work on my computer - it was having some issues and so in between checking that I got my house cleaning done.   Then after all of that - I started quilting the train quilt.  Can you believe it. I stitched along the tracks to frame in areas.

Then we ran a couple errands and I picked up a large flash drive to back up pictures and patterns just to be safe.
















Tuesday - In the morning I backed up my pictures and pattern files and then did some more quilting on the train quilt and decided to start burying some of my threads.

We were heading to Vegas.  Part of our family was going thru Vegas on their way to California so we went there to have dinner with them.

Hubby's Brother on left, and his wife and their grandson.









Our neice and her daughter, she's also the mother of the grandson in picture above.  Behind her is her Mother-in-law the other Grandma.










 We brought clothes just in case, but weren't sure if we were staying or coming home. We ended up stopping to see another friend of my husbands, and she got us a room for free, so we ended up staying. Nice Room -

 Considering we didn't end up eating until about 7:30 it was good we were staying and it was like a mini vacation.  :)

Wednesday we grabbed a buffet and headed home. We had some lunch and then took a nap.  We got up and had dinner, watched some TV and headed to bed.

Thursday - well I think the nap from Wednesday backfired - I didn't sleep very well at night so I was in a hazy funk.  About the time I was waking up in the afternoon, we had drop in company so I didn't go in and quilt on the train. And by the time they left we were hungry for dinner so I made some spaghetti.  By the time I was done with dinner had the kitchen cleaned up I was tired again - so I sat back and just did some hand stitching on the little embroidery that I started on the plane in April on my trip to Oregon.  I am almost done with it.  I just need to finish the lettering and then do french knots around the flowers. and the bird legs.

Today - Friday  My honey headed out to play an early round of golf with the neighbors and I will be heading to the cottage for open sew.  I will be working some more on the Christmas quilt that I was working on last week.  And I'll let you know how much progress I make.

In the meantime - Have a Blessed day!
Lynn

From Concerts to Retreats

I need to play catch up again because it really seems to be my MO to let my blogging time slip away.   Okay  When I last left off before the Bag Lady post - I was sharing that we were going to the "Little River Band" Concert.  Well it was very nice and we had a great time.

We had really good seats - 8th row.  :)

It was a very nice Saturday night out and great music. 

Sunday morning we slept in a little and then got the sad news that Mrs. Shop Owners Mom had passed.  It's a relief to know that she is not suffering but hard for all of us that knew and loved her, especially her daughters, husband and grandchildren.  They are holding a memorial for her on March 4th.  I again will be helping at the shop to facilitate a potluck after the service.  

Monday - we did a little running around and had some lunch out.  Picked up a couple of belts for myself. and got our taxes ready to mail out. 

Tuesday  - I worked at the shop - Mr. Shop Owner had asked me to on Saturday and given that her Mom passed on Sunday morning that was a good call.  I was actually pretty busy so the time went by fast and Mr. Shop Owner came in and relieved me by 2 pm so not too bad.  Also I didn't have a meeting or a workshop at the cottage so I was able to just come home.  

Wednesday - was another run around day.  We hadn't mailed the taxes yet so we went to the post office and then we went to cottage and picked up my quilts that were at the quilt show.  Hubby and I stopped by the shop to check on them.  Mr. Owner talked to us. Mrs. Owner was in the back but we didn't want to bother her.  Then we stopped by Jo Ann's and picked up a sewing machine case.  My granddaughter had given me a gift certificate for my Birthday in October and I hadn't used it yet - so with the upcoming retreat this weekend it was a great time to use a coupon and my certificate and get the rolling cases.  I'm really liking it.  I had fun the rest of the day organizing my sewing tools and notions in the other little cases.  There are 3 plus the main sewing case.    :)  

Then I got the rest of my projects ready that I wanted to take to the retreat.  I want to work on the train quilt for Caleb and one of my oldest UFO's Snowman Collector. 

Thursday - morning was our CRQ Guild Business meeting.   We got our Challenge quilts from the show back and got some preliminary numbers on the quilt show but won't know for sure until they get all the expenses in.  Sounds like we did pretty good. There were more than 700 that came through the door.  Awesome!  

Then I came home and finished packing my stuff and took a nap.  I knew it was going to be a long weekend so I wanted to get what rest I could before I went.  I've been battling some sinus problems and feel a bit tired to begin with.  Then we headed over to the Tropicana to check in and set up for the sewing retreat.  The hotel was letting us set up our sewing stuff on Thursday Afternoon instead of Friday morning so we booked another night and were able to sew for a few extra hours.  Double Yay!!!  Non quilters don't understand - but it's great.  Let the Party Begin.   

This is the view behind where I was sitting.  I had my back to the room but was facing the door - so I actually got to see everyone that was coming and going.  :)  Good and bad I think I did way more talking this weekend than I've done at previous retreats.  

We stayed up until almost 11pm on Thursday night and then got up and started sewing around 4am on Friday morning - we're animals.   These retreat are about sewing - talking and eating.  I didn't get a picture of breakfast, but here was our lunch on Friday.  I love deli sandwiches. 

I started working on my Train Quilt for Caleb.  

I need to put the 5 borders on the panel I had 2 small 1 large and then 2 more small and then I could put the trains on. 

So here are the 1st 3 borders

Then with all 5 borders - now to put on the trains.  ... But wait, hmmm I'm getting input from others.  Maybe it would be cut to put his name on there.  Like Caleb's Express - or Caleb's Railroad.  

So I'm plotting which way and where the trains need to go.  My friend Barbara said she could cut the letters out on her AccuGo Cutter.  

And guess what 2 days after retreat she's done and sent them to me.  Wow this Lady is amazing. 

After I get the letters on I will then add extra train cars to go around them, but this is how far I got with the quilt at the retreat.  

For dinner we had a salad bar.  We were heading down to the quilt shop - Mrs. Owner was having a chocolate party for us.  She dips all kind of stuff in chocolate.  It's awesome.  Also we shop and get a discount for being part of the retreat.  This will be the first time we'll see them since her Mom passed.    It was emotional.  Her Dad came up to me and thanked me for running the store so they could be with him in the last days, that choked me up.   Then she looked me in the eye while cutting fabric for someone and said thank you so much for all you did and do.  I couldn't talk - I just blew her a kiss.  

Then when we were driving back to the hotel/casino we got a big surprise... An old oil filled transformer had blown and caught on fire and knocked the whole city of Laughlin NV out of power.  And the generators couldn't keep up. 

So what do you do while you can't sew and can't Iron - you trace on fusible and you trim blocks and cut fabric.  I traced on fusible 

This is one of the Row by Row kits from Kansas.  It was so cute I just wanted It.  I don't know what I'm going to do with it - but I wanted to do it.  So while I couldn't sew I traced it all out. 

So we sat around the sewing room for awhile but when they said it could be 2 am before it come back on one of my friends and I braved the 6 flights to her room to check it out or get a pillow for a slumber party.  Once we got there and realized it was fine.  We went back down for our purses and others and did the walk again.  We dropped her off at the 6th floor and then continued to 10th floor where the rest of us had rooms.  Here is the view from my room looking across Casino Drive looking at Colorado Belle.  If you look really hard you can see it.  

Ya it was pretty dark.   I just laid on the top of the bed and zonked out.  About 1/2 hour to 45 mins after I laid down - the power was restored.   Needless to say I slept in the next morning.  Not a lot but until 5:30 am.  :)

So first off I went ahead and Ironed the fusible to row by tow kit.  Then I got started on one of my oldest UFO's  - Snowman Collector. 

I had all these fused on and some of them top stitched - the ones in the second row were stitched, but needed to finish the top stitching on the top and bottom rows - it takes a lot longer than you think.  

This took me the rest of Saturday and what time I had on Sunday before I left around 1pm.  Of course I always think I can get way more done but I am happy with all I did get completed.  I have another Retreat next month - we only get Friday and Saturday and I'm not sure yet what I'm taking to work on but I'm sure I'll have fun. 

Here are a few other pictures I took at the retreat. 

Friend Barbara's VW Bug Quilt

 Saturday Nights Dinner.

A Lady name Cheryl's Quilt 

My Friend Aggie - This is one of 2 quilt tops she made.

Well That's about it.  I get wrapped up in the fun and forget to take more pictures. 

Monday was a relaxing day of resting after my busy weekend. 

Tuesday I went to the shop for my regular Open Sew - was able to have some one on one time with both of the shop owners.  It was good.  I worked on a Birthday gift for a friend.  Pictures later.  Then Tuesday night I had a workshop for SNR guild at the cottage.  Pictures of that later when it's finished.  We did a paper pieced block that we'll use for next month to hand quilt. 

That's brings it up to speed.  Wow - it was a busy week. 

Have a Blessed day

Lynn