Blocks #4 and 5...

I've been keeping up with my Pat Sloan Grandma's Kitchen blocks.  Got #4 done and though this is my least favorite, I'm going to leave it until the project is further along to see if it will blend in or if I want to change it.  I think the tone on tone fabrics weren't the best for this block design.  I really like the blocks of the people who only used two colors.

And this is block #5.  I pulled a few more fabrics from my stash because I needed a few more reds.  I only had a FQ of the one I used in the first few blocks.

This is what they look like together.  It's going to be hard to wait til November for this to be done.

December Already???

It's been a long dry spell with no posts on my blog.  I didn't mean to neglect it so badly but I'm going to try to be better.  I have just been busy with life and traveling.  Things have settled down since my last trip to Turkey.  We celebrated my granddaughters first birthday last month.  My, how time is flying by with this little one.  She is such a character and I can't wait to see what the next year brings.

 

 

A few weeks ago I decided to actually attempt a quilt job on my domestic machine.  It's a queen size for our bed and I got all the stitching in the ditch done around the sashing and borders.  I got a few diagonal rows done and now here it sits.  Why?

 

 

Because of this!  The Bonnie Hunter mystery, Grand Illusion Mystery.  I am doing turquoise, red, and green as my main colors and following Bonnie's pattern with the black and yellow.  A mystery during the holidays!!??  What a glutton for punishment!

 

 

 I hope to have some updates on completed steps as the weeks progress.

New Machine in Turkey

Well, Saturday, hubby and I went to Ulos, one of the many shopping areas here in Ankara.  We somehow communicated to a store clerk that we needed a new adapter (mostly by pointing to the broken adapter).  Luckily, the man spoke just enough English to tell us, "Light...signal...right...elektrik."  Okay, got it.  Off we went, got the adapter, walked around some, I got prices on some inexpensive machines should the adapter still not work and I found a fabric store that carried some cottons!  I bought a few gingham-type checks and got a few colors as fill ins for a few projects I had.  ;)  And then home.  I tried the new adapter with my Janome Jem and still nothing.  I get power and then an error display message so it must need some work or it's just not taking the 220v power. 

I've been cutting "kits" and pinning project pieces together so I was staying busy during the day.  I'm not sure but I must have had the most pitiful look ever on my face because on Sunday night, hubby told me I should go back to Ulos on Monday and get myself a new sewing machine.  Saturday they had a Singer for around $200 US dollars.  I really didn't want a Singer but hey, I didn't want to complain.  I'm unemployed now, you know.  lol

So, on Monday, I got out the English/Turkish dictionary and wrote down a few phrases like "left" and "right" for the taxi ride and "how much".  :)  Before I was ready to leave, I called one of the wives that I've become friends with, Debbie.  I told her my plan and she eagerly said she would go with me.  I almost climbed through the phone line to kiss her!!  lol  I would've gone alone but she's been here for three years and knows a little Turkish, how to get to Ulos and is just knowledgeable about things here.  Talk about relief!!

This photo is behind the main street.  The shops go for blocks but the "main street" is where the sewing machine stores are.  They have Pfaff, Juki, Singer, Janome....just about anything you would want.  A lot of friends and family have asked if I have to wear a scarf or keep my head covered.  There are many Muslims here, from the full black dress with just their eyes showing to ladies who wear the trench coat and scarf to just a head scarf.  I know there are names for all of those garments but I don't know them.  If I take time to look it up, I'll never get my post done!  lol

 

So, below is the machine I got.  It's not a Singer and it wasn't $200.  lol  I'm telling you, it's a wonder Richard even lets me come to visit him!  :oD  This week I blew up the iron!!!  lol  Anyway, this hobby machine was just over $400 US dollars so it's not horribly priced and I'm hoping when I come back in September, toward the end of that visit, I'll be able to sell it on the expat site since it's 220v and I won't be able to use it at home.  So far, she's been doing a great little job.  Since I had some of my "kits" ready to go, I was able to start sewing strips together for a Yellow Brick Road quilt.  She's nice and quiet and would've been a nice extra machine if she wasn't 220v.

 

 



None of the fabrics I brought with me looked good with the YBR monkey fabric so I sure was glad I picked up those ginghams on Saturday.  The brown seemed to work just fine. It looks kind of crazy in the photo but it's just a small check.

 

 



 

I also sewed my granddaughter Emily a little soft counting book.  It was an easy panel and it was all cut and pinned together.  I just had to sew it up.  I can't wait to see her and give it to her.  I'm sure it'll go right in her mouth!  :)

 

 

Well, it's raining heavy hear and it's after 10:00 a.m. and I'm still in my jammies!  Love, love, LOVE days like today!  TGIF!!



Baby Quilt, Turkey bound

If you haven't yet, go to this post from last Friday and leave a comment to enter the drawing for some free goodies to celebrate my 500th post.  Now onto post #501.  :o)

 

My husband asked me if I could make a baby quilt for a lady that works with him in Turkey.  I was able to get enough fabric from my stash to make the quilt but ran into a little problem when it came to the binding....arghhh!

 

 

I wish I would've intentionally made the binding scrappy but since I thought I had enough and didn't think I would be short, I had to get very creative.  Ahhh, hindsight!!  I was able to piece scraps together and make it work but it wouldn't win any prizes.  It is a quilt to be used and loved and 'hopefully', the recipient's mommy won't see the flaws in the binding.

 

While I was quilting this quilt, my little granddaughter Emily needed a little babysitting while her mommy took a shower.  These pictures are from about a month ago and she has since mastered sitting up and doesn't need this little seat anymore but with that being said, she is "grabbing" everything in sight.  I doubt she'll be sitting on my sewing table from now on.  Well, until she wants to sew something.  I'm guessing that will be at least a few years from now.  :o)

 

 

Do you see the collection on the shelf?  She already stares at everything in this room and my paper crafting room.  She can't focus.  I think I give her eye-overload or something.  lol

 

 

 



 

The quilt was given the (Emily) seal of approval!

 

 

This was the finished quilt...minus the slobber.  lol  The quilt is from a charm book my friend bought at Road to CA.  It's a great quilt for charms but I used the same focus fabric in the center blocks and the border because I had enough.  I had already used this fabric before so it was nice to try and use it up and make a little room (very little) for other fabric.

 

Trying to juggle...

So many of us are trying to start the year out by finishing some UFO's.  This is my goal too.  I made a list of 15 that I will work on from now til July.  My first one is from a swap, Delectable Mountains, a Bonnie Hunter pattern.  We made blocks out of 30's.  Easy enough.  I got stumped because I didn't know how to quilt it.  Well, yesterday I got it sandwiched.  I have decided (thanks to my daughter Stephanie) to stitch in the ditch straight lines following the seams.  Tonight I was too pooped from work but hope to make some headway this week in the evenings after work.

My in-between-quilting-project will be my Celtic Solstice blocks. I'm only on clue #2, the chevrons.  I am sitting tonight and marking the diagonal squares.  Mondays seem to hit me hard nowadays.  lol

This is such a big undertaking but I am encouraged by all the Bonnie Hunter quilts I have seen over the years.  Even if it takes people a while to get it done, they do finish.  I can too!

So here's where the quilt is.....waiting for me, but not tonight.  Sooo sleepy...

:o)  I can't even blame it on the weather.  It's in the 80's!  lol

Civil War Log Cabin

Sooo, I went sewing again on Saturday.  I went to my friend Susan's house for a little sew-in, sleepover.  Yes, I am making the most of my time with my hubby gone and her hubby was out of town so what else would two sewing fools do?

Susan is the friend who was also working on the Civil War log cabin blocks with me last weekend at our little retreat.  I think I had about 14 made at the end of last weekend and I got 10 more made on Saturday.  It was a pretty little stack!

I got the rows laid out on the design wall and tried to decide what setting to do.  There are so many choices with a log cabin.  Maybe that's why it's a favorite of so many.  I tried the Fields and Furrows but had already made one of those. 

 

I put them in the Barn Door setting and decided that would be the one to do.  BUT....instead of the center being the dark fabrics, I used the light side for a 'shirting' center.  Man, I just love those shirting fabrics!!!

 

 

That gave me full dark diamond in the middle of the quilt.  For some reason this looked better to me.  I stitched all the rows together and love the scrappiness of this one.  I'm out of batting so it will have to wait for my order to come in.  I'm not sure if I'll grid quilt it or do some feathers.  I have a pretty stencil that just might work but we'll see.

 

 

 

It's a finish!!!

Finished the baby quilt!!!  I had a rough go with the meandering.  I'm out of practice and even when I am doing machine quilting like this, I have done it on my friend's longarm machine.  I'm not used to moving the fabric around.  It seems so much more difficult to me but, I have too many UFO's to finish and my friend is not around much so I have to start doing them myself on my domestic machine.  BUT for now....this one is done and labeled and has been given to the mother-to-be.

 

I loved the fabric I used for this quilt.  All from my stash!  Even the backing.  All I used that was a new purchase was the pink polka dot I used for the inner border.  I just got that at Road to Ca a few weeks ago.  I didn't have enough yellow from the border for the binding so I pieced the leftover pieces and I liked the way it looked too.  Use it up, use it up!!

I was down to the wire before the shower today so I just did my 'go-to' saying for the label and stitched it on.  She loved it and that always feels good.

A little sewing, a little card...

After cleaning my room last week, I was able to do a little sewing.  I finished up this Yellow Brick Road baby quilt I had cut out at craft night a few weeks ago. I used everything from my stash except the dark pink inner border fabric.  Even the back is from my stash!  Yay.  The pic is a little blurry but I figured I better use it and do a post or time would get away from me.

Saturday my daughter and I had a shower to go to.  She did the shopping so I made the card.  It sounded like a good plan to me! 

I kept adding pearls because the card was so plain but I think I'm just so used to having an embossed background, I wasn't used to this clean card front. 

You can hardly tell, but I sponged the edges of the white card with Blush Blossom ink.  I punched out two butterflies and folded up the wings to make it dimensional.

 

It's a good thing I got this play time in.  We are working around the house and yard to get things ready for my hubby to go to Turkey.  Lots to do still.  The packers will come this week to look over what has to be done.  That means "we" have to be ready with most of what's going so they can assess.  Who-boy!!!!  On top of that, I'm trying to plan a going away party so people can see him before he leaves.  I ordered the taco cart today so I can enjoy the day with my hubby and not have to work too much.  Sigh.....big changes ahead.

Mini Retreat!



We had so much fun at our little mini-retreat at my friend Susan's house.  It was so nice of her to open her house up to us so we could have a little sew-in at little cost, just gas to get there, food and the shopping expense.  hehe...sometimes that shopping can be bad but we were all good girls.  :o)

 

Susan shared the first quilt she ever made.  She was just in high school when she made it.  We all thought it was a pretty good job, not only for a teenager but the fact that it's still together!!  It's a crazy quilt and it's tied with yarn in the corners. 

 

 

Here is a picture of me, Susan and Neena.  (Nice hairdo, huh?)  We all went through school together and Susan was the Maid of Honor at my wedding.  That's a whole lotta years of being friends!!  It's so fun that we all quilt, stamp or do something crafty.  It allows us to spend time together while enjoying our hobbies.



 

This is a shot from upstairs, where the ironing board was.  After pinning the borders, I would go inside and sew them on.  Then I would trek upstairs to the ironing board.  I did this for 4 borders, 2 sides at a time......that would be 8 times!!!  Repeat a few more times for the backing and the other projects I took.  It was quilting aerobics!!!  :o)  Oh, the lady seated on the left is Judy. She's a nice lady that worked at Disneyland with Susan but recently retired. Lucky duck!  



 

Michael and Nicole made a delicious dinner Saturday night.  Michael is the girlfriend of Susan's son and Nicole is her daughter.  They made Sopes or Mamelas.  They are a corn masa patty cooked and then you raise the edge to create a little dam to hold all the goodies on.  We put beans, carnitas, a little potato and green salsa.  Mmmmm!!  Since we were retreating, we cheated and bought the meat and salsa from the little Mexican market.  It was all delicious!  Especially the margaritas!  hehe  And yes, we still sewed straight seams and no one sewed through their fingers.  ;o)

 

Did I say yummmmm?

 

This little block might look familiar.  I made it when I was at the retreat in Indiana.  I was going to just make a little table topper but Judy said it would make a nice pillow.  I had it pinned and all ready to go so I just went ahead and quilted it and then did a backing with a slip cover type opening.  I just need to buy a pillow and I'm set.  A UFO no more!

 

Susan had her hubby pull the ping pong table out before leaving for his guy weekend. This thing was a god-send!!! I pinned one border on the floor but knew that wouldn't be good for my back. This was ideal. I had to fold the middle of the quilt over so I could measure and pin the borders but that was no big deal. That big beast on the left is Dooley, the sweetest HUGE dog you ever want to meet. This picture gives you an idea of how big he is but his head is down. When he is standing tall, he's probably chest height. Makes you want to get a saddle! lol 

And here is my two year old project, Jared Takes a Wife. My sister Isabel and I took the Bonnie Hunter class at Road to CA a couple of years ago.  Of course, hers has been done for a while.  She made a little bigger than lap size and quilted it herself.  I pretty much procrastinated because I needed a place to spread this out (ping pong table to the rescue!!).  I added enough borders, it gives me the 'drop' I needed so it would cover my bed.  I'm checking into longarm prices to see if I can have it quilted.  I just don't think I have it in me to do it on my Juki. 

 

Here is a close up of the borders.  I didn't follow any pattern and hope that isn't obvious by looking at the photos.

 

I have a couple of craft shows I'll be doing with my daughter so back to the sewing machine for me.

Baby Quilt for Noah

Monday night, I got the binding tacked down on the baby quilt for Noah, my daughter's friend.  Nothing fancy about the quilt or the label but it's done and made with lots of love for the new little bundle of joy soon to come into the world.

 

 

I gave my daughter some credit on the label since she was my 'ironer', 'sewing machine set up gal' and 'quilt holder' as I machine quilted.  I would've given her credit anyway but I'm not telling her.  lol  I found this little saying somewhere on the internet and it's my 'go to' saying for a baby quilt.  I can't wait for a little bit of Heaven of my own!!  :o)

 

Monday night I also flew over to Joann's to exchange some little travel pillows.  I had bought two different kinds.  One was labeled travel pillow and the other two I got were decorative.  Well, at the time they didn't feel much different but they were all on sale and there was only one travel pillow.  After making the pillowcases, I put the pillows inside and you could definitely tell the difference so I did the exchange.  I was glad to see they had restocked their supply.  I wrapped the flannel blanket and pillow with some black ribbon and will sell the sets at the craft show Sunday.  It was nice to use this fabric out of my stash!!  (As you can imagine, it didn't even make a dent!)

 

I worked on some pincushions last night and totally destroyed my sewing room.  How can such a little project need so many supplies!!  I hope to share a few pics with you in the next couple of days. 

Clean, dust and a little sewin'!

I spent some time in my sewing room on Saturday and looked up at my very cluttered shelves.  I think a few of them are "leaning" from the earthquakes we've had.  It must have shook `em up.  lol

 

Dolls, pincushions, iron collection, etc., etc.  Oh, and dust!  I decided to move some things off the shelf and give the "girls" a cleaning.  I bought a vacuum accessory set a while back as my sister told me that's how she cleans her dolls.  It worked perfectly.  With my back surgery, I needed to reach the top shelves without stretching so I got my longer Swiffer duster and it was perfect. 

 

 

Look how nice everyone looks all cleaned up!  I used a few tins to bring up the "girls" in the back.  And I moved a few things off the shelf so it didn't look quite as cluttered although, it kind of looks the same.  lol 

 

 

I moved my little McDonald's Wizard of Oz pieces off the shelf because they were just so crammed in the corner.  I wanted to put them on the top of the shelf but they wouldn't fit standing up so they're having a sit in....or a picnic....without food!  LOL

 

 

I finished the top for my daughter's friend.  I worked up a simple design in EQ7 using just a few fabrics.  Her theme is Noah's Ark and it's a boy.  Ashley liked this little lion print so we found some coordinating fabrics and pulled a few pieces from my stash.  Sorry for the blurry photos.  I can't find my memory card so I'm using my iphone. 

 

 

I cut the batting and pieced the backing so tomorrow I hope to sandwich it. I will just grid quilt it but with my back, I'll probably have to work in small increments. I'm doing really good but not sure how much quilting will affect me. We'll see....