The Nest is Empty

August has been moving month and now that the kids are both settling into their new lives it's time to get back in the groove here at home on several fronts - blogging and sewing for starters. But first I should backtrack through our travels.

On July 31st I met our daughter in Mpls/St. Paul to help her get the J cats to their new home in Columbus, OH. Her fiance will be attending graduate school for Hospital Administration at Ohio State and she will be continuing her nursing studies. That's Jax looking at the camera. JMeow was sedated for the trip as he gets very anxious and throws up in the car. We got a lot of funny comments from toll booth workers and fast food window employees along the way! And we both were covered in fur of course after 2 days on the road.

After move in day we had several days to explore Columbus, meet up with extended family and enjoy their wonderful Zoo before I flew back to Mpls/St. Paul and drove home on August 6th. Then the list making, shopping and packing began to move our son to college at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester, NY.

The three of us left on August 13 spending nights in Rockford, IL and Cleveland, OH before arriving in Rochester after a visit to Niagara Falls. Our son moved into his dorm on August 16 and started his Honors Program Orientation activities while we attended some parent sessions. Then we said our goodbyes, met some relatives for breakfast the next morning and headed to Columbus, OH to visit our daughter Sunday night. Then a LONG day of driving on Monday and we were home.

Neither Tucker or Elsa are much for cuddling in the morning after they have been fed so they obviously missed us!

I will admit to intermittent crying between Columbus and Chicago on Monday... I had thought the goodbye part would be the hardest but watching our son stride off to his evening activities on Saturday without hesitation made me so indescribably happy! I don't think it sunk in until we said goodbye to our daughter on Sunday night. All of the decisions, planning and moving are done - it's time to settle into the empty nest and watch them grow from a distance. And, one of the blessings of a large extended family is that they both have familiar faces nearby. What a comfort for this mom.

My husband goes back to work next week with teacher's workshops but until then we have some time together before I hit the UFO Collection in earnest and get back to a regular blogging schedule. I am more than ready to sew.

More Fun Quilting

Batik Noodle Recipe 2 is finished and I will share Batik Noodle Recipe 3 tomorrow since I've decided that each quilt deserves it's own finish post. Just because I tended to create UFOs in bunches doesn't mean they have to stay that way right?

I tried another variation on wavy walking foot quilting by crossing the lines that follow the main seams of the blocks and adding a single line in between. I used orange Connecting Threads Essential thread since that was the predominate color in the blocks. I really like the playful/whimsical element it adds to the quilt!

I didn't have any batik yardage for the backing so I used some leftovers from other backings that had kind of a batik-y look and the same batik binding from Batik Noodle Recipe 1. It's hard to justify the cost of batik backing at full price for a donation quilt but I do like my backing to complement the top. I think it works.

Batik Noodle Recipe 2 is my 65th UFO Finish since 10/1/2012 and will be donated to Project Linus. You know how I like to note the significant numbers as my UFO Countdown continues.

Gratuitous grand cat photo of cuteness I couldn't resist sharing... this was taken on their last day here. That's JMeow getting the "spa" treatment from Jax. If you look closely you can see that Jax has both front paws hugging JMeow. Tucker is the only one around here who doesn't miss them!

I'm linking up to Freemotion by the River.

Month End Plans

It's been a busy in a good way month and that will continue through Thursday as I'm heading back down to Minneapolis/St. Paul on Wednesday afternoon to go to a concert with my sister and spending the day on Thursday shopping my favorite places. Our daughter will be going home tonight with the grand cats and we are going up to my parents this afternoon for a visit. My mom continues to be doing well with her knee replacement recovery which is a big Yay!

So it's time to either go for broke re quilting finishes or put them aside until November. I see a lot of DONE! on my October Goals and I'm feeling pretty good about getting a few more. My design wall reflects that today. And one cat on the table getting ready to jump on the one on the floor which is typical after I open the door!

My plan is to sandwich, quilt and bind Kitchen Sink Feed Sacks (my October NewFO and WIP Finish goal) which is hanging over my wall tomorrow. This morning I'll finish up quilting the borders on Thimbleberries Jacob's Ladder so I can attach the binding and bring it along today for hand sewing.  I've altered the contrast a bit on the next two pictures so the quilting shows better.

I'm really happy with how the diagonal quilting is looking on the blocks. My goal is to highlight the ladders of the top but let the patchwork and fabrics be the star. I'm going to to add at least 2 more lines of quilting to each section... a small diamond in the middle 4 patch and a line on the other side of the seam line through the dark fabrics on the ladder.

I've been using cream Aurifil so far but will be using a darker thread in the borders and will probably use that for the next lines on the blocks as well. This quilt is my October goal for "A Lovely Year of Finishes" so it WILL get done!

Last but not least are my 3 remaining "And Sew On" BoM blocks. I'm going to try and get at least 2 of them done... here is my cup of tea taking shape!

I'm linking up to Design Wall Monday@Patchwork Times and heading down to sew.

Friday Finish

It's always fun to have a finish to share on Friday! Patriotic 9 Patch (formerly QOV 9 Patch) is in the DONE! column for my October goals. I had planned to donate this one to Quilts of Valor but it ended up just shy of the minimum size so I will either donate it to Project Linus or keep it on hand for when a need arises. I really like this one so it might just end up living with me.

This quilt was started in 2008 with the leftover 2.5" strips from Patriotic Squares which was donated to Quilts of Valor. I'm such a fan of 9 patches so that was an easy choice and paired them up with the metallic star fabric.  When I ran out of patriotic fabrics I mixed in a few reds and lights to make enough blocks.

I found some gorgeous red,white & blue King Tut thread that I used for quilting. The color changed often and I tried to capture how pretty it turned out by adjusting the contrast a bit on the close-up. Originally I was going to quilt it crosswise too but I really liked the channel look so I laid it out on my cutting table to ponder while I worked on another quilt. I didn't change my mind so moved on to the binding stage.

I'd had a blue binding picked out but one of the things I liked about the top was how the reds were scattered throughout the 9 patches so I replaced it with a red instead. I think it was the right choice. The backing is a wide small dot print which shows off the variegated thread nicely.

I pulled my old cutting table out of the storage closet and set it at medium height to the left of my sewing table for additional support. This was suggested by a few of you after I quilted 9 Patch Swap last month and it made a huge difference in my quilting comfort.

My trio of Quilt Inspectors also approved! Usually they wander in and out one at a time so this cracked me up. Jax is in motion reacting to my attempt to get their attention... he is the people pleaser of the group.

One last thing... I will never tire of LOVING the thread cutter on Mr. Juki. Those teeny little tails just make wonder "How can it do that?".

What I Learned:

• Trust my instincts... sometimes less quilting is more. It's OK to change plans midway.
• Use more red!
• It's worth it to set up the extra table when quilting a larger top.

I'm linking up to Feline Friday@sarah did it!, TGIFF@Quilter in the Closet, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop@Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Link A Finish Friday@Richard and Tanya Quilts, Needle & Thread Thursday@My Quilt Infatuation and Finish it Friday@Crazy Mom Quilts.

Design Wall Monday

Yesterday was J-Meow's day for Quilt Inspector duty. I keep my door closed when the J-cats are visiting as I don't want them finding any dangerous "toys" when I'm not watching. J-Meow is NOT a fan of closed doors so he is quick to join me and takes his job very seriously!

As you can see... my cutting table is still a mess. On a more productive note - I'm at the halfway point on my Feed Sacks blocks. I'm not crazy about these blocks in "Kitchen Sink Scrappy" but maybe they will grow on me. I do love how quickly they go together and how great they are for busting 2.5" strips.

My eyes tend to gravitate towards Blue & Yellow Strings instead on my other wall so I'm including a picture of that even though it hasn't changed since I showed it last. 

Looking at my October goals I have plenty of things to choose from today but my quilty mo-jo is flagging a bit. I'm hopeful that getting my room tidied up and making a to-do list for the week will give me a boost!

I'm linking up to Design Wall Monday@Patchwork Times and Building Blocks Tuesday@Quilter in the Closet.

Reading and Sewing

I have been on a reading kick this week finishing 3 of Jo Nesbo's "Harry Hole" books. Nesbo is a Norwegian author (the books are set in Oslo) and his books are tightly plotted with memorable characters. Harry Hole is an extremely flawed detective who becomes pretty fascinating as you learn more about him.

"The Snowman" was my first Nesbo read which is the 5th book of the series and since then I've been working my way through the ones that are translated in order (book #2 is due this winter). His latest book "Police" has just been released. I highly recommend them if you enjoy reading crime fiction.

Today I'm setting aside my iPad and getting back into my quilting room. Here are a few of my blocks for Feed Sacks from the book "Scrap-Basket Surprises" by Kim Brackett. These blocks go together really quickly and I think I'll have a full wall in no time... just 20 blocks are needed for a Project Linus size quilt.

I'll also be doing some much needed housekeeping so I can baste some tops and cut some binding fabrics later today.

The grand cats will be here another week until our daughter comes home. J-Meow has been thrilled because school was out on Thursday & Friday so our son (who he adores) has been home. He will not sit on my lap ever... let alone like this!

I'm linking up to Feline Friday@sarah did it! and Scrap Basket Sunday@Kim's Big Quilting Adventure.

Is it Wednesday Already?

That was a fast week and this will be a short post. My mom continues to make great strides after her knee replacement surgery last Thursday... in fact today I have a "day off" already! Any guesses what I'll be doing shortly (besides laundry)?

What's New:

I've got 160 strips cut for Feed Sacks (from Kim Brackett's "Scrap-Basket Surprises" book) and now I'm working on the 80 shorter length strips.

A selection of toys for the grand cats... the natives are getting restless! Tucker has one favorite toy and little interest in anything else but these two are always ready for something new.

What's (Still) Hot:

• Thimbleberries Jacob's Ladder - quilting stage
• RSC13 blocks - black & white Birds In the Air blocks
• And Sew On blocks - I have GOT to get one done TODAY!

Sunday Things

Just a quick post today... not a lot of sewing going on but lots of healing! My mom's knee replacement surgery went great - she is already home and my uncle will be released from the hospital tomorrow. Thanks much for your kind get well wishes on my post last week!

I shared my 60th UFO Finish on Friday and that means I get to start something new (10 UFO Finishes = New Project). I spent some time browsing my books last night and decided on Feed Sacks from Kim Brackett's book "Scrap-Basket Surprises". I wanted something simple & scrappy using my odd length 2.5" strips and this will be perfect for that.

And, it will be a great take along project to do the cutting while I'm helping my mom out this week. Just 2 sizes of strips to cut so not much concentration needed... I'm also excited to try out the red Martelli cutter!

I've got my B&W charms pulled to get started on my Birds in the Air blocks for RSC13.

The grand cats are settled in like they own the place... here is J-Meow napping in our family room.

Jax likes to be in the same room as a person so he is keeping an eye on me in the living room. He is the most watchful cat I've ever seen... most cats don't like a lot of eye contact but he is the exception. Note that both go for the fleece!

I also wanted to include a link to Darlene's blog Quilting Daze. Darlene and I have emailed back and forth several times over the last year and she has been a big supporter of my push to work down my UFO Collection. A while back she asked about doing a post on her blog and followed up with some questions for me to answer. So if you are interested you can read her Friday post at the link above and also give Darlene's blog a peek at the same time. Thanks again Darlene for your cheerleading!

I'm linking up to ScrapHappy Saturday@soscrappy and Scrap Basket Sunday@Kim's Big Quilting Adventure.

Flimsy x2

Easter Stacked Coins made it to flimsy stage yesterday and while I was taking pictures I realized I hadn't shown Pandora's Box in Teal on the blog yet either so I have 2 flimsies to show off today.

These photos of Easter Stacked Coins are so much more accurate than my previous indoor photos... pastels seem to be rather challenging to take pictures of. This top is a slimmed down version of a quilt from the book "Open Up a Can of Worms" by Debbie Caffrey. I don't know if I'm liking this one more now because it looks prettier outside or just because I've finally done something with it!

I love the ballet slippers and the cute patchwork fabric below it. Although I've been calling this an Easter quilt it is really due to the color palette as very few of the fabrics are Easter prints. You can see a hint of jelly bean fabric at the bottom.

Pandora's Box in Teal finally got borders attached last weekend and is ready for quilting later this fall. This quilt is from the book "Jelly Roll Quilts" by Pam & Nicky Lintott. I just love the gorgeous shades of teal in this top!

The chocolate brown in the border makes the dark brown in the blocks almost photograph as black... in person it matches up better. I wish I had purchased more of that border fabric because it's such a fun print.

The hangers in my UFO Closet are starting to fill up nicely with tops ready for quilting - 18 of my 50 remaining UFOs are now flimsies. I've got a few more in mind to get to that stage before I shift gears into "Quilting Season".

Speaking of quilting, here is a picture of my interim quilting assistant J-Meow testing a roll of batting in my closet last weekend. He is a cat who loves to chill on the highest object he can find. It looks like he might be telling me to quilt Arkansas Crossing soon.

After school tonight our son and I head down to Minneapolis to visit college #2 tomorrow. It's pretty rare for just the two of us to go on an overnight trip so I'm looking forward to it. Not to mention that our hotel is right across the freeway from IKEA... hmm I wonder how that happened?

Mod Art on the Wall

I pulled this UFO out of my drawer on Friday for my next leader/ender assembly project. Mod Art was started in 2008 using 5" charms from an online Yahoo! nickel swap group I used to belong to. Each month we had several swap themes and I'm guessing I just grabbed these bold large print squares and started sewing them together. Here is my starting point.

I had enough blocks sewn together for 4 rows and I decided I wanted a 5th row so I pulled out my fun charm bin and added these to the mix.

For some reason I had trimmed them down to 8.5" so I followed suit and found more of the sashing polka dot in my stash. J-Meow was on supervisory duty... "I think you might be onto something Grandma".

Here is how it looks on my design wall this morning.

I have been collecting black and white prints thinking that I want to use them as accents in my Project Linus quilts so I thought I'd start with the sashing cornerstones. You can see a glimpse above of the B&W print I'm planning to use for the border laying under the polka dot sashing fabric.

I'm thinking this will be a fun quilt for tween or teen girl! I'm linking up to Design Wall Monday@Patchwork Times.

Perfect Summer Day

Yesterday was so gorgeous... about 80 degrees, not a cloud in the sky and calm. My daughter and I took full advantage and had a wonderful 90 minute tour of our lake and the adjoining lake on our paddle boards. Then she doubled down with a slalom ski session. Summer at it's finest!

Late in the afternoon I finished assembling the horizontal rows for my Christmas UFO and the light was good for photos (minus the sunlit bottom left corner). This quilt will have a light print inner border and the outer border is a large red floral. I'm loving it!

The colors aren't as accurate in this closeup but I wanted to show the detail in these yummy Robyn Pandolph fabrics.

I also took a few pictures of what's blooming in my front garden. The rabbits and/or deer have been eating my Rudbeckia buds but a few have escaped to add some gold accents throughout the garden.

The zinnias are loving these warm sunny days.

As are the pink cosmos and purple cleome.  For some reason my monarda was really sparse this spring so I had to do some "filling" with annuals, I hope it comes back next year.

Last but not least... here is grand cat #2 Jax taking a rest on top of our living room armoire. He and his brother J-Meow are always so busy the first few days here investigating the house top to bottom. I predict lots of cat naps in their future.

I'm hoping for a repeat of yesterday's fun today... hope your Friday is a good one too!

Crossroads in Red

I've been looking forward to red and had all of my red strips and charms ready to go this month for RSC13 block making. Here are 8 Crossroads blocks (tutorial HERE) laid out on the floor.

It is SO energizing to sew with red!

 I tried to use a wide range of reds from red/white to maroon.

Later this month I look forward to playing around with 8 months of color on my design wall and will definitely share some pictures.

Guess who is visiting this weekend? Here are Tucker and Jax enjoying the morning view...

with J-Meow in the adjacent window. Birds and squirrels anyone? We are heading out to a family get together for the rest of the day - Happy Saturday to all!

I'm linking up to ScrapHappy Saturday@soscrappy.