Finally some time to sew!!!!!

Well I got some time to sew this week!!!! I was able to finish my mystery quilt. I didn't do the borders like the pattern called for but I really like how it turned out. I was unable to take pictures outside. It's been too windy here. 

 I think that it would look really cool if the border fabric was glo in the dark! 

I also got to go & give a lecture/trunk show to the Northland Quilters Guild on Thursday. I have lived in the KC area for over 25 years but i got quite the tour on Thursday. My kiddo ( he started his spring break on Thursday) came with me. He's been wanting to go with me for a while. We left in plenty of time to get there by 9ish. That way we could have plenty of time to get set up. Well I trusted my Onstar navigation & it took me 45 minutes in the wrong direction. The meeting was set to start at 10. I showed up 10 minutes after 10. They were so nice & understanding & they let me go on after their meeting & snacks. I was very greatfull for all of the help from my Mom & kiddo. They helped me set up, hold quilts & pack everything back up in the car. I learned that I should never completely trust technology. I should trust my instincts. I should also get at least 2 different cell phone numbers for guild contacts. I couldn't call anyone & let them know what was going on. They did call me & I did let them know. All in all it was a good learning experience.  

I finished my niece/nephews quilt. It was fun to see how this quilt came together. I started out by just doing some KU Jayhawk embroidery & I kind of went from there. I really like how it turned out. I was able to use fabric that I had on hand for all of the quilt top & backing. I also used some of my leftover batting. I just pieced two pieces together to get the size I needed. 

I went to a quilters sale on Saturday. A fellow quilter had passed away in January & her mom was selling all of her quilting supplies, books & rulers. I did not come home empty handed. Actually my hands were quite full. Some fellow quilters were giving me a hard time because I was buying yardage. I couldn't pass up the good deal. Since I can't pass up a good deal I came home with 19 books. Jeesh, that's like a brand new quilters library. 

I'd better get going. There's lots to do today both farm stuff & quilting stuff. I'm hoping that I'll get the farm stuff done so that I can get to the fun quilts stuff. I hope that y'all are having a good day. Check out patchworktimes.com to see what others are up to. Talk to you more later on,

Vicky

Busy, busy, busy

I've just been very busy the last week and a half. Life has been getting in the way of quilting. I made up for it today. Today I sewed from 10 am to 10pm. My friends Theresa (my long arm quilter) & Sharon had their annual Lock-in today. There were 60 quilters sewing & having a great time. This year I really stepped out of my box & used lime green for the predominat color in the quilt. The quilt does have yardage & scraps in it. I just find it difficult to compleltely use scraps in a mystery quilt. All of the black & white fabrics are scraps from my stash. The other fabric is yardage that I bought from my friend Maria over at airborneheirlooms.com  I was really motivated to see how far I could get. Friend Pam T & I were the last quilters to leave. I was making the square queen. I got all of the rows & all of the sashings done. I really wanted to see what it was going to look like. I'm not sure yet if I like it or not. It all depends on what I decide to do with the borders. Luckily for me that does not have to be decided tonight. I had a great day. It was fun getting to know new quilting friends Morgan & Colleen. I hope y'all had a great day, I did & I'm beat. I'm headed off to bed. More later on,

Vicky

So frustrated but I persevered ! Update to the earlier blogpost

A fellow blogger let me know that I was a no reply blogger when I left a comment on her blog. I have spent the last hour trying to figure out how to change that. I'm sure that there is a simple fix but I haven't found it yet. I have found tutorials on blogs & I have tried to follow them but it doesn't work. If anyone can help I would love it! Thanks,

Vicky

******The trouble that I was having earlier was that I couldn't figure out how to turn off Google+.

I googled how to do it & I looked at lots of different blogs that had posts about it & finally I found one that gave me the info that I needed! Once I got that info I fixed the issue in about 30 seconds. I really need to become more computer literate.***********

What I'm working on & The Farm Show

I've been jumping from project to project this week. There are 3 projects that I need to be working on & completing. Project #1 is a baby quilt for my brother & his wife.  He is a huge/fanatical KU Jayhawk fan so that is why I've embroidered the Jayhawk. I found this pattern as a free coloring page on the internet. They only had 5 to choose from, kinda slim pickins. My sister told me this morning

that I need to try pumpkin carving patterns & see what I find there. 

Project #2 I will be doing a mystery lockin in a few weeks and I have nothing ready to go. My goal is not to buy any fabric & just use what I've got in my stash. I've been very wishy washy on my fabric choices. I never new that I was such a control freak but I am when it comes to mysterys. 

Project #3 I thought that I warned to make these cute little flower yoyo's & use them as napkin ring holders for my guilds 20'th anniversary party. I think that I need to make around 80 & I have 4 done. Thank goodness the party is not until May. I just need to do 5-10 a week & they would be done in no time flat. 

What have I been working on instead of these projects. My Apple Core quilt. I am really wanting to improve my curved piecing skills so that when I do my Double Wwdding Ring quilt I will feel confident. I do need to cut more fabric & get more variety. There needs to be more colors in this quilt!

Yesterday my family & I went to the Western Farm Show in Kansas City. This has been a yearly event since I've known my husband. This was also the first year that my kiddo got upset that I was taking pictures of him on the equipment. He accused me of "babying" him. I suppose he's to the age that having your mom take pictures of you is not cool. I stopped at three pics. 

I hope that y'all had a great weekend. I'm looking forward to the possibilities this week has! I hope y'all have a great day! More later on,

Vicky

String piecing update

Well I have had tunnel vision when it comes to this string piecing. There is lots of laundry to fold & bread to be made but have I done any of this, no I have not. I think that I have maxed out all that I am going to get out of this Frosted Flakes box. I tried not to use any solid black. White or cream colored fabric in the blocks. There is still some strings on the table but the variety is getting really low so I stopped at 72 blocks!!! Holy cow, 72 blocks from one box of strings. That's just amazing to me. I had bright ideas to make this a gigantic ( normal for me) sized quilt and have it finish off at least 100" square. That would make the setting be 18X18 & I would need 324 total blocks. That's a lot of blocks. I do have one more Frosted Flakes box full of strings that are easy to get to. I might get that box out & see how far it takes me.  I hope that y'all are having a great day. We've had some wild weather here in the middle of the USA today. I'd better get to work & see what I can get done before my kiddo gets home from school. More later on,

Vicky

Just a little String piecing

Yesterday I was working on a string project for my trunk show on Monday. I needed a leader/ender project to go with it. So out comes one of the Frosted Flakes boxs full of strings. I dumped it on my kitchen table & off I went. Well in no time flat my primary project was all done but the mess of strings was still waiting patiently for me to use them up. So I did my best to sew them up. I made 18 string blocks yesterday afternoon & evening! After I've trimmed them up & squared them up they were 6". They should finish off at 5.5". I am wondering how many blocks can I get out of this one box? I am not using white, cream or solid blacks. They are being put away for another project.  We could have a contest with it if anyone wants to guess. I'm going to go with 123 blocks. I'll see what I can come up with for a prize. It make take a little while to use them all up but I'll keep y'all posted on my progress. Hope y'all are having a great day! More later on,

Vicky

What I'm working on: The Independence Quilt

My goal was to get this quilt done & to my quilter, Theresa today & I succeeded!!! It has been a fun quilt to make. I have practiced my set in seams a lot! I would have made it larger but I ran out of the blue & red scraps. I did buy the border fabric. Friend Maria will be writing the pattern for me. I'm hoping to be able to take it with me on Monday. Monday I am headed to Pittsburgh KS for lecture/trunk show.  While I am waiting for this quilt to be quilted I need to work on binding some quilts. I think that binding is my least favorite part of the whole process of making a quilt. There are 3 that need to be bound. 

I do need to work on cutting out my Double Wedding ring quilt so that I can give the die back. I don't like to borrow things but when I do I like to return ASAP!! 

I do hope that y'all had a good day. Mine was full of family, friends & fabric. You can't get it any better! Check out patchworktimes.com to see what other quilters are making.

Vicky