Finished Berry Picking top!

I finally got the borders on my Berry BOM project. I thought and thought while it was on the design wall.....whether or not to add a pieced border to it to make it big enough to fit a bed but I finally decided to just finish it as is. Actually, I did add a little green border before the pink outer one. That was an idea from my sister, Isabel. She said the pink was nice but separating it with a small border might look better. She liked the blue in the baskets but I didn't have enough of anything blue but did have enough of the green.
Here's a close-up of the borders.

Now to check the collection of backings I have and see if I've got anything I can use. If not, I'm off for a retreat this weekend and might find something when we go to the quilt shop. :o)

Recovery and my finished block

A while back I posted about this rose bush called Angel Face that my friend Cindy gave me after my mom's funeral service. I planted it on Labor Day, which was two days after her birthday but I wasn't sure if it was going to make it.

But it came back just look at this beautiful blossom! And this rose has such a beautiful scent. Remember when people used to talk about inventing smellavision? Now we need smellablog. :o)

And on sewing news, I finally finished my Berry Picking BOM on Monday night. This was the last block and one of the biggest but I love it.

And then last night I got the row sewed to the main piece. Now to sew on borders but I'm trying to decide if I should just finish it up with the fabric from the kit or if I should add a bigger border so it fits a bed. Oh, the thoughts that go through this tired old head of mine. Maybe a good nights sleep will help me decide.

The Birthday Boy, cuttin' and sewin'

Yesterday was my hubby's birthday. The family went out to PF Changs for dinner. Yum! We were pretty stuffed after our meal but I still ordered their Banana Spring Rolls for dessert (six warm, crispy bites with coconut-pineapple ice cream drizzled with caramel and vanilla sauce and sprinkled with berries) because we couldn't make the Birthday Boy share his little itty-bitty complimentary chocolate mousse dessert. :o)

Then, we all had a little fortune cookie. We all read ours out loud and Richard was last to read his. This man is all about numbers and luck, and look at what his fortune said....

When he first read it, I swore he was pulling my leg!! Last year, his birthday was 09/09/09 so we went to Las Vegas. We had fun but the numbers didn't help us any. I still think he should go buy a lotto ticket this week, don't you? :o)

And just so you don't think all I'm doing is sitting around twiddling my thumbs and eating spring rolls, here are a couple of pics of what I've been doing in the evenings. These "parts" are for a scrappy swap I'm hostessing on Backporch Friends. It's from a free handout from McCall's Quilting.

And I'm STILL working on my last block from the Berry Picking BOM. I can feel me getting closer to the end!!!!! I might have a quilt top ready to be quilted one day soon. "I think I can, I think I can!!"

I don't really have any plans this weekend. I would like to get in my sewing room and clean up a couple of piles that have not put themselves back into the closet. The nerve! lol Have a great weekend everyone!!

Finished my glass block

Wooohoooo!! I worked last night until about midnight but finally finished my glass block. As you can see, there was a little piecing that went along with this one so even though the glass was done a week ago, there was some sewing to do this time around.

I went ahead and added it to last months block to the top. I only have one more to go.......

I know my friend Angela LOVES when I use blue painters tape to hold up my blocks and quilts. Adds a touch of class, don't you think? :o) I just pinned the new row next to my existing top and oh, it's so pretty. And it's going to be a pretty good size too. I already have the border fabric. It came with the last kit and it's so sweet AND PINK!! This quilt is so outside my color wheel. :o)

I got my fabric ready for the last block last night. All I have to do now is trace it and I'll be good to go. I will take it with me when I go sit with my mom this weekend. I have been trying to stay busy to not think too much.

We got some bad news about my mom. They started Hospice on Friday and gave her two weeks to two months to live. It has hit us girls pretty hard but it is not so much of a surprise. If you are a regular reader, you probably know she has been battling with a few medical issues since early this year, congestive heart disease, cirrhosis of the liver which have both caused a lot of fluid in her body. Her body is no longer responding to her medications and she is getting very tired. We will cry a LOT and miss her an awful lot but the life she has been living is not much of a life. It is hard to see her like this so we will have to deal with our grief and let her go.

Are we still in June???

No, I didn't think so. But I finally finished my June block from my BOM project. Well, the embroidery part anyway. I have 4 small basket blocks to make still and add the borders and sashing squares. But here is my glass of lemonade. Sip, sip. :o)

The next block is a whopper. It'll probably take me a while to trace it on the fabric. So, let's see. If June's block was finished in August, then my July block.....yeah, October it is! :o)

Now what? And 'hello Shannon' :o)

I can't grow tomatoes. I will spare you pictures of what my tomato plant looks like. It's VERY sad. But guess what? I can grow jalapenos.

But guess what else? I don't like spicy food. LOL Now that's some smart farmin', huh? What I need is for my tomatoes to grow like my jalapenos because I love me some 'maters. :o) Guess I'll go buy a crate of tomatoes and maybe try my hand at salsa. You can 'can' salsa right? CanCan....hehehe.....I got a picture of jalapenos doing the can-can but I should've pictured them doing the Mexican Hat Dance!!! Arriba!!!! Ole'! :o)



Okay, let's get serious. Mmm, maybe not! Let me take this moment to pretend that I'm Queen Latifa and send a "shout out to my girl Shannon" in Kansas. hehe It's a small world we live in and the Internet makes it even smaller. I got an email from a friend, Nan, who I know from one of my Yahoo groups. She works at the quilt shop in Kansas called Quilting Bits & Pieces, the shop I am doing my BOM Berry Picking from. This is from Nan's email:

"Something funny happened yesterday at the shop. Shannon, my Monday co-worker asked me if someone named Liz did the Berry Picking BOM. I said yes, why? She said one of the blogs that she reads, "Busy Liz" had pics of Berry Picking blocks and she looked really close at her computer and decided they were our fabrics! I said, yes they are! :) It turns out, Liz, that she found your blog from Reeze's blog on the sidebar of favorite blogs. Cool, huh? She said she loves your blog and all the cute stuff you do."

Well, isn't that somethin'? And what a small, small world. So Shannon, this is where I am on my block. I'm still a month (or two) behind but I'm getting closer to getting this one done and then it's onto that monster block! The last one is a biggie - a basket full of jelly jars and 'stuff'.


I am also working on some scrappy summertime baskets for a swap. The block is from Quilter's Cache and it's called Bouquet. I've got three more sets of five to finish so I better get busy and get these mailed off. Lots to do.........

Bye Shannon!!! :o)

Finished May in July

Well, I can't really say this block from my Berry Picking BOM took me three months to finish because I didn't even start it until July, but it's finally done! Yay!!! It is one of the bigger ones that are on this project. I got the fabric ready to go for the June block so I'll trace that one tonight. Luckily, it's just a glass of lemonade so I'm hoping I can get it done in just a few days and then onto July, the monster beast of them all. :o) The final block is a basket filled with jelly jars and goodies.

I'm actually surprised I did as well as I did on this BOM. I would be happy to have to top done by the end of August. One month behind (for me) isn't bad at all! Let's see how I do....

And here is the make-up bag I made when my sister was over. This was a fat quarter we both bought but Isabel used different fabric on the bottom of her bag and different ribbon.

After I finished sewing the May block together (above), I started preparing the fabric to trace the July pattern but I was getting tired. I usually trace the pattern and then baste a piece of quality muslin behind the fabric so my thread doesn't show through. Instead I basted the fabric on first. That will make it very hard to see through the lightbox and trace the design so I will have to rip it out. I knew I didn't have it in me last night so I turned out the light and went out in the living room and watched a little TV while stitching down the scallop binding on my little quilt. You know, sometimes you have to give in and when I start making mistakes, that's when it's time! I got two sides of the binding stitched down when the eyes started to get very heavy. It was hard to stop because it's looking so cute, if I do say so myself. :o) But I had to get to bed so I wasn't a complete zombie this morning.

I marked the top of that little quilt all up with a blue water soluble marker when trying to decide what other quilting design to do before doing the scallop border. Once I'm done with the stitching, I'll lay it out and see what else it needs. My sis suggested stitching in the ditch in a section I missed so I'll do that and then see if it tells me it's finished. My friend Carolyn says her quilts talk to her but mine seem to be VERY tight lipped. hehe

Fun, busy weekend

I picked my sister up from the train station on Friday night and it seemed we were going, going, going until she went home on Sunday morning. We went to a quilt shop first thing in the morning and got some yummy Lakehouse fabrics as well as a few cute FQ's. Went to visit my SIL who broke her arm from falling off her horse. Thank goodness she is okay and all that happened was a broken arm! Dropped my husband off at the Indian casino and found another quilt shop to go to. Got home and made a make-up bag together with some new fabric we bought (we would have used some in my stash but I hardly have any!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). LOL We finally had to get off our feet so we went and sat on the couch and did a little stitching. I worked on this.........and I'm happy to say I'm almost done. Only one little cherry and raspberry to finish.

And Isabel worked on this. This is her quilt from the Sharyn Craig class we took a couple of years ago. Mine is made from civil war reproductions and hers is out of 30's. This is an older picture. Her binding is all sewed down but she is in the process of adding buttons to the intersections. It is super cute in person.

She quilted it with a stitch in the ditch and a pretty braid pattern on the border.

And that was all on Saturday!!!!!!!!! Needless to say, I took it easy on Sunday just doing laundry and worked on my baby nine patch/snowball quilt that I shared here. I used my scallop gadget and the information I learned in the Darlene Zimmerman class and got a pretty scallop border on my little quilt. I pinned the binding down and have to stitch it but I want to get my BOM done first. Hopefully, I'll be able to share a picture with you later this week.

Bewitching Pillows

One night last week, I sat down to work on my embroidery. I was flipping through the channels but could not find anything on television. Is that crazy or what? We practically have a billion channels to watch and nothing! Okay, slight exaggeration but it happens every once in a while.

But then I found a couple of episodes of Bewitched. I loved that show when I was younger so I left it on. I was watching and saw these cute scrappy pillows on Samantha's couch! Freeze, pause and grab the camera to show you. LOL (Good thing my hubby wasn't home. He already thinks I'm a nut for the things I take pictures of!)

Look how scrappy! Andora turned poor "Derwood" into a frog but lucky for me she did it right in front of this Log Cabin pillow!!! That's when I knew I was meant to share this with you. :o)

So, I got my April block finished. Luckily, it was a small design last month because it took me almost two months to finish the March block! Anyway, I got my little basket parts cut out. Such beautiful floral fabrics.

Last night I got the baskets made and my square patches sewed together. I got it sewed to the March block and now I just need to stitch this to the top section. The next three blocks will be sewed to the right side of the top.

I hope to have this sewed together soon and will share a picture of the top when I get the parts sewed together. I've got family coming over to celebrate Mother's Day on Saturday so I've got things to do and might have to put this off for a few days. Grrr, cleaning, shopping....pooey!

I got a code in by doze....

With the help of some friends in the above photo, and lots of rest, I am feeling better. I doubt any of that helped to make me better. It just had to run its course but at least they brought a little comfort to a coughing, sneezing, stuffy head.....well, you get the picture. I think my little sister passed it around because after our visit to San Diego, my older sis got it too and like me, is still fighting it. My mom is in the hospital because of it too, not because of the severity of it but because of her age. Hopefully, she'll get out today. I'll be there on Saturday to mom-sit. :o)

While curled up in the recliner and catching up on every movie on HBO, Showtime, TNT, Hallmark, etc., etc., I got my March BOM done. It was a big one (for me) and I didn't think I'd EVER get it finished. I guess that's what it took. Me practically nailed to a chair to "git `er done".

I love this pattern. In case you missed it in an earlier post, it's Berry Picking Party by Crabapple Hill. I just love the old scale and jelly jars on this block.

I traced my next block but it'll have to wait just a bit longer before I start stitching. I have some blocks to make for a swap. Ah, no rest for the weary?

Happy St. Patty's Day to ya!

Here are a few Irish Blessings for you....since everybody is a little bit Irish on St. Patrick's Day. :o)

May the Lord take a good liking to you......but not too soon!

Ain't that the truth!!! I've got too many quilts to make!!! lol

And I got a good chuckle out of this one....and I don't know why but when I read this one, it reminded of an old Chinese proverb, like "Confucius Say..."

Never iron a four-leaf clover, because you don't want to press your luck!

But if Confucius said it, it would've been, "Don't pless you ruck" (big cheesy smile!)
Isn't that a cute little clip art? I found it at http://www.villageholidaycrafts.com/. They've got some cute stuff!

Okay, onto some sewing stuff. I can't believe it but I finished another block to the Berry Pickin' BOM. This might be month six and the little baskets and sashing squares were month seven. (I think.)

Here's how it looks so far. I got my sections sewn together in case I need to fold it up and use the design wall for an actual quilt!

The next block is a monster beast. A cute one but still, it's big and detailed. It's a vintage scale with fruit and five jelly jars. I will trace that one of these nights and get started on that one. I've got a busy couple of nights so we'll see. I take my class on learning my new Espire machine tomorrow night, my sis is coming to stay the night on Friday and we're heading to the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland) for her big 6-0 birthday. I don't think she'll mind me telling you that she's turning 60. It's a big number but we agree it's hard to believe she is that age. We should all look as good as her at 60! She got all the good genes, that one. Oh yes, I am soooo jealous! :o)

The good, the bad and the seam ripper!

Let's start with the "good". I don't know what's wrong with me but I've been in a baking mood lately. First was this delish pineapple upside down cake. Mmmmm. I used a boxed cake mix and this recipe from good ol' Betty Crocker. I haven't used any other cake mix in probably 30 years. Gotta love that pudding in the mix.

That was Thursday night and it is now history. And then yesterday my hubby was rummaging around the kitchen and I asked him what he was looking for? He said something sweet. Well, he obviously wasn't looking MY direction! LOL So I made him a batch of chocolate chip cookies. While I was working on my projects yesterday, I kept hearing the cookie container lid being pried open. ahhh, the cookie monster was working overtime yesterday. :o)

I will now explain my "bad and oh so ugly" seam ripping story now. OH-MY-GOSH, I soooo must have A.D.D. or something because me and directions just don't seem to see eye to eye. Below is a picture I posted a while back of my Cherry Hill BOM. This was four months completed. Looks good, right? Wrong. My first mistake was on month #1. I cut the sashing wrong

You might not have noticed *but I did* and that's all that matters. :o( I noticed the large carnation print in the bottom center was next to the border of the next section I completed (not in the photo yet). I said to myself, "Self, wouldn't you know you would pick that print to go right there and the border of the next block was that same carnation fabric. Darn it anyway." Well, I got out my pattern and saw that the quilt shop had given us placement for each of the squares of fabric. And here is my favorite little graphic of all time.......

That pretty much says it all. I tore it all apart. Actually I tore out the left side of the parts shown. I detached all the little squares, ironed them and put them in the right order. Some people would've said who cares, they're all pastels and only you would know. And that right there is the problem. I would know. And I figured if the shop took all the time to put those blasted little squares in an 'eye pleasing' order, why should I be the one to mess it up. So, here is the way it should've looked originally...

I know. It looks just like the other photo. LOL But the color placement is better. At least that's what I'm going to keep telling myself. :o) And here is block #5 and the baskets, which were month #6.

I guess my machine does a fat quarter inch seam because I had to steam iron those baskets and tug and pull to make them fit. They were about 1/4" short on both sides but I had done enough ripping out and I figured I'd put those blocks in a vice if I had to, I wasn't ripping them out! So here's how it looks now.....

I've got block #7 traced so onto stitching my teapot. I WILL be reading those sewing directions before I start cutting my fabric. Whether or not I follow them will be another story.....or blog post!!! hehe

Yesterday...

Yesterday morning when I went outside to go to work, it seemed extra cold to me. Well, I should say cold for Orange County (CA), not like the east coast, since they are buried under snow right now. So I started the car and I noticed this cute little snowflake next to the temperature. Wow, my car came with clipart! I wonder if when we hit 105 in the summer I'll get a little sun icon to advise me of how hot it is? Lord knows, I can't figure these things out for myself. LOL
What's that you say? You looked at the clock and saw it said 7:57? Yes, I start work at 8:00 a.m. Yes, I was late. What's your point? lol No one usually gets to work until after me so I figure if I show up on time, it gets wasted because there's no one there to see it. Really!

So, the boss's birthday is rolling around. I shared how she spoiled me on my birthday with balloons, roses and a hundred dollar gift card. She could've done it cuz she loves me but she might've had an ulterior motive with her birthday right after mine. hehe I had to bite the bullet and do the most dreaded thing ever.....EVER!!! I had to GO TO THE MALL! Ack! The other day I asked her what she wanted. She's very difficult to buy for. She said a small pan from Williams Sonoma. Eeegad, I knew what that meant. I looked online but knew I'd have to go to the store in order to have it on time. Gasp!

Shopping wasn't that bad. I found the pot. It was on sale. It was still ridiculously priced for a pot but I figured I owed her. While I was in the mall, I went and got some face cream at Sephora and looked around Macy's because I had a $50 gift card from Christmas. I thought I better look while I was there cuz I might NEVER go back! I was feeling parched at this point. It happens every time I go shopping. My girls laugh at me. I don't know why it happens. Maybe I hyperventilate while I'm there and my mouth gets dry while I'm gasping for air. hehe
After shopping, I took some take-out home for dinner. Two of my girls were there so after catching up with them I got in my room and sewed a little bit.

I sewed one seam in this project (stitch in the ditch) and honestly, I think shopping took everything out of me cuz I was exhausted. I just don't have shopping stamina! I went and parked myself on the couch and worked on my BOM that I am behind on while watching American Idol.
I'm getting close to being done with this block. It was a BIG one!

I've got the gloves, some flowers and the doily to finish. I've got December and January traced and then February got delivered last week. Eeegads, don't these people know I have a life! LOL

My mom is needing a new recliner so I volunteered to help my sister shop for it. Yes, it is more shopping but it doesn't involve the mall so I think I'll live. If you don't hear from me for a few days, call 9-1-1, the Park Rangers, the Canadian Mounties........or maybe Mall Cop! :o)

Long drives and back to sewing...

I'm back from San Diego. My sis and I went on Thursday and got back Saturday. Thankfully, the skies were blue and we didn't hit any rain on the drive home. My mom should find out tomorrow if and when she'll have gallbladder surgery. She's doing pretty well and though we were sorry to miss Road to CA, there will be other quilt shows and it was good to take care of our mom.

The blue skies didn't last but it's okay. We need rain in Southern California! My sister drove home on Sunday morning and hit a little bit of rain right before getting home. I took this picture out my front door yesterday, MLK Day. I had the day off, which was nice to play catch up after being gone. It was pouring and the wind was blowing pretty hard. I don't know why that darn old tree in my front yard won't blow down, doggone it! I call it a Dr. Seuss tree. I wouldn't mind it but it doesn't have many leaves. Looks sort of sorry. lol We're due to have more rain tomorrow and a really big storm on Thursday. Should I call Noah? :o)

I sandwiched two quilts yesterday. Well, one quilt and a table runner. I'm working on that UFO list! But I've got a "code in by doze". :o) A stuffy nose and chest congestion so when I felt like I needed to sit down for a bit, I worked on my BOM. This block is from November. I am behind due to the holidays so I'll try to chip away at it a little during tv time in the evenings.

I started stitching on the table runner tonight and got it anchored but didn't take a picture of it. This is the other quilt I got sandwiched.

I think I'll just stitch in the ditch on this one to keep the kaliedoscope effect. It'll have to wait until I'm done with the table runner though. Better go get back to that!

Stitching and a finished quilt...but not mine!

I got my kit for block #4 of my BOM. It's kind of a big one and Thanksgiving, cleaning, cooking, and decorating at the end of the month for Christmas, it'll be interesting to see if I can get this one done. It sure is cute though!!

I got a total of four flowers stitched at Thursday Night Therapy (TNT) last night. Hey, it's a start. And I am trying my disappearing marker for marking my blocks. The pencil didn't come off of the last block that easy. I had to soak the block and that's a pain so we'll see how this works. I got this suggestion from a couple of ladies and I've never had problems with this marking method in the past, so we'll see.

And Sherrie popped in after her bunco night with her 'other friends'. ;o) Her husband is a USC alumni and she made this quilt, kind of for him and kind of (mostly) for her. lol It's a beauty!

She got the pattern from our Alabamie friend, Carolyn, who made this same quilt but for OU. These girls are kind of over-the-top football fans. Sherrie satin stiched the SC's in the corners as well as the Trojan in the center of the quilt. She grid quilted through the star and chain blocks, and made her first attempt at trapunto by doing the words "USC" above the Trojan and "Trojans" below him. She had four coaches sign it. It's pretty awesome. I didn't think to get any close ups. I was just happy her and Neena stood still long enough for me to take the picture. :o)