Monday, December 26, 2011

Orca Bay-Clue #6...and Boo-Boo Blocks

Hope everyone had a great Christmas! I have entered the world of Kindle readers! I got a Kindle for Christmas from my sons and Shara. I have enjoyed downloading and reading with it. We had a wonderful Christmas eve party at Shara's sister Diane's house and my mom also came! It was a blast and we all ate too much...hence the extra long cardio session at Jazzercize this am!
I made some progress on my Ohio Star blocks too. I have 19 light ones and 8 dark ones made. These are the CUTEST little blocks...when they are made right! LOL!



OK, I am laughing now, but I couldn't believe it last night when I was sewing and thought I was all done with the light ones. I had already done 20 of them...and one of those had a mistake too...so that's why I was shocked at myself! As you can see in the photo...well, they are now orphan blocks that will appear in a orphan block quilt at some date in the future! I am NOT going to spend the time ripping them apart! I am just going to cut new ones. I am going to have to make more QST's, but I will see how many once the dark ones are done. Anyway-I know now I HAVE to keep the photo of the block in front of me at all times!


I have been making more of these darling little heart blocks as leader-ender blocks. The sister group to quiltville chat-quiltville hearts is making a heart quilt for one of out members who is suffering from some major medical things. And this group is going to continue making the blocks for future needs. They are so cute, I may make a little heart quilt or maybe placemats to go in my etsy shop. We'll see!


Next post I do will be in the New Year! WOW! this year has been a fast one! God bless you all and hope your new year is happy and pray for peace!!!
Mary

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Orca Bay Clue #5 progress

So...I have 110 of the unit 5's done and 250 more to do! No hurry! It is going to take all week...or more, with Christmas coming up next week! That is OK! This is a marathon, not a sprint! No prize is offered for being the first one done!

This photo is all my pretty parts in their "Be Sweet" box. I have saved a couple of these little boxes that Mandarin Oranges come in. They are a great size to hold small parts or blocks for a quilt in progress.


Here's all my HST's awaiting their wing triangles to be sewn on.


And here are the 110 of the finished ones. As you can see, I had a rather loose interpretation of "black fabrics" for this quilt! I think they sort of look like Orca tails! My Orcas are very colorful!


I also am sending 6 heart blocks for Nikki's Love Quilt. More on that project later.

God bless and have a Lovely Christmas!
Mary

Monday, December 12, 2011

Clue #4 of the Orca Bay Mystery Quilt!

I finished Clue #4 this evening. Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilts are always really interesting and fun to make. They have a large number if pieces and we are always guessing right to the end! I love it! Can't wait for the next clue!


And speaking of Bonnie Hunter ideas, last summer, she challenged everyone to make bowtie blocks using cheddar solid as the background, and have this be our Leader-Ender project. Well, I used scraps instead, but this is the result of those months of making bowtie blocks. I am going to give this one to my quilter's guild yearly Mountain of Quilts for Charity drive next year.


Are you ready for Christmas? Me neither! Just 2 weeks to go!!!
God bless!
Mary
PS-I mixed up the 2 photos above, but I am sure you can figure out which is which!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Day 2 of being the Featured Seller

Here are some more links to wonderful treasuries! I just am amazed at the creativity of the tagt team members!

Comfort and Joy

Sometimes in Winter

Unique gifts

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas

And there are so many more!
Mary

Monday, December 5, 2011

Hello December!


I somehow lost the post that explained what is going on, so I will do it again!
I had an exciting day on etsy, as my shop is the Featured Shop of the week. I lost count of how many treasury features my quilts and other items were in today! And this goes on all week! It really is fun! My etsy team-tagt team-is the best team on etsy! There are so many talented members on the team and they are prolific in making treasuries and supporting one another's shops! The previous post has 3 links to some of the treasuries that were made today. Take a look! You might find that special gift for a special person in your life!!!
I am currently doing the Orca Bay mystery quilt by Bonnie Hunter. I have the first 2 clues done, and am working on the 3rd-very slowly! I hope I can finish it tomorrow afternoon. I included a photo of the 2 finished clues-it ended up at the top of this post.
More later-Christmas season is fun, but busy!!!
God bless
Mary

Here's a few more

Teal Delight

Plumtealicious

The Bear and the Honey Bee

And this goes on all week! Stay tuned!

Friday, September 23, 2011

September Already!!!

Wow! This year is going so fast! I am already planning for the Quilt Show! Here in Spokane, the quilt show for WSQ (Washington State Quilters) is in mid October. This will be the third year at the fairgrounds-a great venue for out rather large show. We have at last count almost 600 quilts and other items entered. Judging from some of the show and tell quilts at guild meeting yesterday, it's going to be great! I don't have new photos today, but will soon. We have a new computer in that is in the sewing room. I have to upload the Kodac easy share program into this computer and then I'll get to sharing!
It just seems like I can't get enough quilting done lately! I think I mentioned I was doing a new exercize program-Jazzercize. I have to devide my time a little more, and I think that may be why I have not gotten as much done theis year. But, the wt loss was so needed!!! I am still going to Jazzercize three times a week, and at last weigh in, I have lost 20lbs! Jazzercize is so fun that I have not gotten tired of it yet! I have been weighing at the beginning of each month, so I hope to add a couple more lbs to the 20!
Here's a question for all you nurses out there:
How does your facility handle change of shift reports? I have experienced it many different ways, from recording report, to bedside reporting most recently. I actually have liked doing report at the bedside so far, but I am interested to see how well it does as we continue. There is still the issue of going into a patient who desparately needs sleep and we wake them up yet again! Anyway-tell me your thoughts if you have time!
God bless-
Mary

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

What I am Working On

My etsy shop has been dormant for a long time, but I recieved a great order from a friend at work who wanted a quilt for her adult daughter. The only guidelines were that it have her name on it, have a monkey or monkeys on it, and be full sized. At first I thought I would do a pieced design with a monkey fabric as the focus, but found it is hard to find an adult monkey fabric. All I found were juvenile prints. I asked a couple of the yahoo groups I belong to for help. I got all kinds of great sites, so thanks to those who reserched that for me! Meanwhile, I started looking at monkey clip art and found some possible patterns to use for an applique center panel. From there, Rachel's Monkey Quilt kind of developed itself! Here is the block layout and a photo of the center panel. I am working on sewing it all together now and hope to have it quilted by mid August.


Thursday, June 16, 2011

Oh dear!

Another month gone by. I have been without a camera dock to download new photos for about that long now. "Something" happened to the cord. We will get a new cord or a new camera soon I hope!!!!I can't list anything new on etsy or share any new photos of projects until it is fixed one way or the other. I guess as frustrations go, this is minor!
We got a new to us car this past weekend: a 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid! Oh how I wish I could show a photo of it! We have joined the new millineum at last! The newest car we had was the 1998 Jeep Grand...and a gas guzzler for sure! Hey, it is a sign of the times for us to give up a larger V-8 gas hog for a smaller, 4 cylinder car, that runs on batteries part of the time! I'm loving the quiet ride and the newness of it!
I finally got caught up with other projects enough to feel confident in starting my newest quilt top-Walled Garden that I shared in the last post. I love the fabrics and think this one will be lovely! I will share progress shots when I can!!!
I want to share a link to an etsy shop and hope many will visit it. The owner of the shop-Som-had a baby girl at only 26 weeks gestation. The baby-Tara-is in the NICU fighting for her life. The etsy team I am on-tagt team-is trying to help her out by donating items to sell and giving her the proceeds, and also featuring her in many treasuries to increase her exposure and hopefully result in sales. NICU expenses become astronomical very fast!!!Here is a link to Som's shop:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SomsStudio?ref=pr_shop_more

If you wish, visit and support her if you can!

God bless
Mary

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Quilter's Block

I feel like I have had "Quilter's Block" for awhile! And that is not one you can sew! I had too many BOM's going, and it felt like I wasn't finishing anything! Well, I hope I got out of that this week!I finished quilting my "Meet Me at the Manor" from a Quiltmaker series quilt. The photo is of a 1/4 of the quilt-it is folded and on my ironing board. I got the binding part way ready. It feels good to have something nearly done! Also below is my Simply Radiant Star quilt with all the blocks done and the layout planned. Not as spectacular as some of the gals are doing, but I am ready to have this project done. I did not like the fabrics I chose for the connector blocks, so rather than rechoosing, I decied to just finish this one and move on!


I finished this quilt top too. It is from AP&Q magazine-I think the April issue. It is called "Follow the Leader". It is shown here folded on my ironing board too. I did not want to take down my SR quilt! This was a fun, scappy, and pretty pattern. The challenge was in the setting. Those are columns of blocks with a narrow sashing inbetween each one, then a flying geese border. I love the effect of that dark plum color as the sashing and outer and inner borders. I will show more when I get it quilted and bound!

This leads me to my next project. I get a Quilter's Favorite book every spring from AP&Q, and this year, there were SOOO many quilts I want to make! I am going to start with this one-"Walled Garden". I even love the name! Below is the book with the pattern, and the fabrics I picked for it. The colors were inspired from thiis truely yummy fat quarter pak I bought at a quilt show from Quilt Patch Lane. It is a Moda collection, but if course, I added alot from my stash. It is a rosey/peachy color that I really love, but also I have some lt chartreuse green in there too, and brown,and cranberry. I can't wait to sink my rotory cutter into those fabrics!!! But I must get those other things finished first!!!


So, wish me luck this week...binding the Manor quilt and sewing together SR quilt! I am really trying to resist cutting those fabrics before I finish those two things!!!

God bless
Mary

Monday, April 11, 2011

3 Great Sales!

I just sent two quilts to Virginia, USA, and I am going to send another one to Ireland tomorrow!
I am amazed that the Double Four Patch and Stars (DFP&S)sold so quickly! I just finished it last month! I am sure she will enjoy both quilts.



This is the Pineapple Blossum I made last year, and it is accompanying the DFP&S to the buyer in VA!


I also sold my Dreams of Kitty Beach to a lady in Ireland. I can't find my photo of it right now. I love that I have quilts in many places around the world! That is what makes selling on etsy FUN!

Shara is healing really well, and I am back at work! I also started an exercize program: Jazzercise! I am going three times a week, even if it is after work! I have love it so far! I will weigh in after I have gone for 1 month...May 1...see if it has helped me loose weight! I started at 280lbs! Ugh! Pray for me!!!
I found out I am starting to have blood sugar issues...and my dr put me on Metformin-a blood sugar reducing med. That was the final straw to getting moving again! I DO NOT want to be diabetic if I can help it!

God bless!
Mary

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

OMG! I can't believe I haven't blogged in a month

and a half! Wow! Early this month, Shara finally got in to see an Orthopedic surgeon and got her new hip on 3/13. She has been struggling with rt hip pain for at least a year, and we have been going all over town to figure it out. It is weird, because we went to Dr Bone-yes that is the Ortho doc's name-early last year, and he thought she needed a new hip them! Shara did not want to do surgery, mostly out of fear of what people would say due to her TG (transgender) status. After dealing with the pain of degenerative arthritis for a year, she didn't care what people said! We spoke to the Ortho unit manager before the surgery and told her Shara was TG, so it actually went well. Shara is home for a week now and is doing really well!
I have finished a few things and put them on etsy and plan to do a few more. I am on Family Medical Leave right now-until 4/6. It has been great, and I am pretty sure if I could retire now, I would! But I can't, so I will now dream about it yet!
Anyway, just thought I would touch base and say I am still here and still quilting!

God Bless

Mary

Monday, February 7, 2011

Design Wall Monday-2/7

Hi All! I have almost finished my Meet Me at the Manor series quilt from Quiltmaker. I have the whole top together, but I think I want to add a yellow print outer border. I don't like ending a quilt with all those small pieces on the outside. But anyway, after all that piecing, the final result is pretty! I am happy with my color choices!


My current (well, one of them!) is the Kiss in the Corner by Bonnie Hunter. The pattern cn be found on her blog-Quiltville. This one is turning out cute. I had a whole bunch of HST's left over from another project-all done in batiks. The constant fabric is not a batik, but is very batiky looking from far away. I am up to sewing on the 1.5" squares in the sashing strip corners. There is a ton of sewing with this quilt-it is all done in 2" and 1.5" pieces! This is really typical of Bonnie H quilts! Also typical is how much fun they are to put together! I am happy to use up some of these 1.5" squares. I have lots of them!


This is the sweet little print I am using for the corner stones and setting triangles. I was starting to think this was becoming too monochromatic, but in the photo, you begin to see the pattern emerging.


That's some of my current projects. See what others are working on at Patchwork Times!

God Bless!
Mary

Monday, January 17, 2011

Design Wall Monday-1/17/11

Happy Monday! It is the first time in three weeks that I am organized enough to get something up for DWM!
I was working several days getting my RRCB top done, and needed a break. This bowtie pattern was a nice break! The bowtie blocks are from a Moda Bakeshop pattern and finish at 4". The middle of the bowtie is a folded dimentional center. I added the plain squares to make an 8" finished block and here's the setting i am sewing it into. I plan to do a scrappy border using 2.5 by 4.5 pieces. This whole quilt is made from pieces I had precut from scraps.

This is one of the fabrics I used in this quilt. It was from a grabbag of fabric scraps I picked up somewhere last year. I am not sure if it is cotton or a blend, but I love that cute touch of embroidery in this very scrappy quilt!

And here is my Roll Roll Cotton Boll-still in pieces. The center of the quilt is together, The inner border strips are sewn together, and the outer border strips are ready to go. I am waiting until I have a full day off before I tackle the final part of getting the borders all on. Then I need to make a backing...! And a label! And get it quilted! This has been a fun and challenging project and I love the final quilt! Thanks Bonnie Hunter!


Have a happy week everyone and enjoy the quiltmaking process!
God Bless
Mary

Monday, January 10, 2011

Hello for 2011!

2011 seems to have come before I was done with 2010! Time is going by too fast!!

I have been busy in the sewing room, although I don't have much finished. I wanted to make a few small items for my etsy shop and made a couple of Valentine's Day mug rugs.


I also made a free pieced letter wallhanging-hope to get it quilted andbound soon. I procrastinated over Christmas about getting three Christmas wallhangings done...one was posted on etsy, one is still on the frame, and one is still waiting to be quilted! I guess I could say I have a jump on next Christmas then! I didn't want that to happen for Valentine's Day, so I am trying to get some done earlier!


I finished all the blocks for the RRCB mystery quilt yesterday, but did not put them on the design wall, as Christmas Lights was still up there. I finished putting CL together today and laid out the RRCB blocks. That quilt is large-takes up the whole design wall and then some. I find it really helpful to have it all laid out, particularly with a diagonal set. I get lost too easily otherwise!


As I said, I have finished this top, but only had this photo to show. I really love this pattern and might actually make it again! That is something I don't usually do as there are so many patterns to choose from!



God bless everyone for the next year! May it be better than last year for us all!

Mary