Bella's growth and quilts.

Our Bella is a jumper. She is still working on the landings and tracking the object she is jumping for. Hubby gets this dangly toy inches from the ceiling and she manages to touch it and lower it as she falls back.

 We are so glad she is recovered from her spay surgery. She came home the afternoon of the surgery a bit groggy but otherwise fine. Thirsty and hungry we were relieved when she used the litterbox and then took a long nap.

A few days later we noticed a large lump on her belly near the incision that was completely healed. It was the weekend and she did not seem to be in any pain. We decided to wait for a weekday.

I called the vet on Monday and they asked us to send a photo of the lump. And here it is. They called us back and asked us to come first thing on Tuesday morning. Hubby had to be somewhere so I took Bella and he met me in their parking lot. As we were walking in his phone rang and they were looking for us. It was only 8:15! Hubby says we are in the parking lot and they rushed us back to a room. Vet examined her and said he needed to knock her out and work on it. It could be a hernia or just fluid but he needed her to be out to work on it. And that she was under warranty and there would be no charge.

So we left her there and drove home. The vet called hubby on the drive home and said it was all fluid but she would be out until later in the day. And as of today there is no sign of that old lump coming back. They even called a week later asking about her condition. I sure do love this vet. They are pricey but oh so worth it.

Bella loves my sewing machine. No, she loves me and the sewing machine is just in the way. She plays and tumbles with Lucky. But needs to be in the same room with me.

I still see no signs that she is a Balinese. Her fur is short and her tail is striped. I see no reason they would want to have kept her as a breeding female except for her loving personality. I mean she is a real easy going kitty. Very loving, nothing scares her except for the vacuum cleaner.

My daughter #2 gave me this fur lap cover and Bella has claimed it as hers. She sure looks beautiful when she is on it.

A shaded 9-patch that was my Leader & Ender as I worked on a few Tumbler quilt tops. Yes I said a few Tumbler tops. The date on my container was 2008 and it was full of tumblers sewn into 3's and also 30 rows sewn. (18 patches)
I had 2 templates made back then for a 4" tumbler and a 2" tumbler. This is one of the three 4" tops.

There are certain perks that come with being OCD. Containers stacked to the ceiling of projects and all are labeled. I have not sewn the 2" ones together as I can see them as marching around in a border of the three Tumbler quilts that I am working on.

So sorry I have been lax about posting. I can only blame Facebook!!!!

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Bonnie's Idaho Square Dance blocks

Oh Bonnie. You have snared me again. I have 51 of these beauties made. I exhausted all the 3 piece units that I had made a few weeks ago. Those were Leader and Enders as I worked on Libby's Log Cabin from a Fons and Porter Love of Quilting magazine pattern..

Actually I think I am working on 4 quilts at the same time. They all use variations of 1 1/2" squares sewn into units.
I am working on a version that combines Bonnie Hunter's and Edtya Sitar's pattern. I am not giving measurements as I do not want to break any copyright issues. There should be lots of info on this sew-a-long on Bonnie's Yahoo group and on the Face Book group.
Some units are just anything I pull from the box. Other units are color coordinated. That way helps me overcome some OCD issues like being too matchy matchy. Another group is all children fabrics I find as sorting through the squares. I think I have 101 of those made so far.

Some units are just going to be 4-patches. Some will be 16 patches and others will be 25 patches...cannot see the end of my deep box of  1 1/2" squares.

I was having fun until OCD set in.

I was having fun until OCD set in.

I have been using my 1 1/2" squares as Leaders and Enders all this past week.
And loving how many I was making. I pieced a top for my second daughter's birthday and two copies for Project Linus. The Leaders and Enders then became a major sewing exercise that required no brain work. And a few more days of blissful sewing happened.

There are several quilt blocks that use these precious squares. With the Idaho Square Dance as one goal block, I have a small white container now full of the 3- patch units. And an entire larger plastic container full of 4-patches. Then a smaller container with some Square in a Square finished blocks. And another container with 4-patches of only Civil War fabrics.

And yes I have all my neutral squares pretty neatly stored and easy to grab for sewing. When I want a lighter square I can grab a pinch full  of lighter squares. I am very happy with being organised. But then today something happened.

As I was pulling UNSORTED squares from their large storage container (in the back on the left side) my hands started placing them by color. I knew what was happening but was unable to stop.

To ease my urges I simply made two 9-patch blocks. I even turned off my machine and told my hubby I was going to take a nap.

I did not take a nap. I slowly reached for my sorted by color container. Right on top of the container were 54 colored sixteen-patch blocks and 22 neutral colored sixteen-patch blocks.

Cute little blocks aren't they? They measure 4 1/2".

I then proceeded to make 13 more 9-patch blocks with controlled color. My cake container with the patches sorted by color is nearly empty. I wanted no repeats of fabric in each block. This means I need to color sort that large container.
ARRRGGG!!!!!

On a lighter note I have a new tea cup and three cones of 70 weight thread.

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I own a Singer Sphinx hand crank sewing machine! Who knew???

When did I buy this?
Why can I NOT remember?
I am sure I was infected by Our Bonnie Hunter of www.quiltville.com fame.

The scary thing is I have bid on a couple hand cranks for the last month. Well, after she sewed on her hand crank sewing machine during a quiltcam broadcast.

I did know I had a machine major buried in the quilt frame room. And I also knew it seemed much longer than my other wooden case Singer.

I was looking for my 800+ Spool blocks that I had made earlier this year. I hate it when I clean because I cannot ever find anything. More to follow on the cleaning urge...

And here she is! A very clean and beautiful Sphinx hand crank. Wooden case with key that works. ( this is sooooo heavy I had to have Hubby carry it out for me)

But what is the model #?
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am guessing a Class 15.
Am I right?????? I need a manual but they do have her threaded.
Serial # says she was born on January 12, 1923.
She has a round bobbin case that looks like the Featherweight's case.

No pin rash...some rust on the bobbin slide cover. And there are decals on the crank wheel too!!!!

The decals are in amazing shape. There are some paint spatters on the wooden case. Not bad at all...

Isn't she lovely? They had the crank wrapped up...I never unwrapped her! Never tried sewing on her! Sure could have spent some quality time with her when we lost our power for 6 days last year!!!

See the rust??? It looks as if the finish was scraped off from pins and then it rusted. Should I or can I replace this one lousy issue?

And this is what I was looking for!!!! A stuffed full box of 3 1/2" Spool blocks that were last year's Leaders and Enders challenge. We even swapped spool and background fabrics.

I rotated my sewing area. My back is now to the front door. I am facing the TV and the computer. I swept and dusted and organized...that is how I misplace my things!!! GRRR!!!!

Butterfly quilts and kitties

Maggie Mae has a favorite perch in this house. She wants this wooden stool put in front of the screen door so she can watch her squirrel and bird friends.
She will stretch and even lay down on this small stool.
But...the air is on now and her stool has been returned to the kitchen where it belongs. Poor Maggie Mae!!!

With four cats in the house it is not rare for one of the cats to be "helping" me quilt. And they LOVE the Minkee backings. This smaller butterfly quilt went to daughter #2 for her 40th birthday. WOW! Time sure flies!

I work in controlled chaos as I sew. Making these 4 butterfly quilts was a labor of love. And as they were assembled I made 35 spool blocks as Leader and Enders per Our Bonnie Hunter of www.quiltville.com fame.
Then as I prepared to move to quilting mode I cleaned/straightened up a few things. Then somehow I lost my 35 spool blocks! ARGGGG!!!! I should have left the mess alone!
I sold my Janome 3160 QDC to a very good friend who needed a thread cutting machine for piecing the Bonnie Hunter Virginia Star quilt. I only sewed on it a few times...a waste to have it and not sew on it.
So, I got my my 1932 scroll face Featherweight and set her up for piecing in the back bedroom where I do all my cutting. What a fine sound she makes as she sews. I love that sound. And I made 30 more spool blocks. That back room is closest to the air conditioner and gets very cold. I love that fact! And as I was cutting more backgrounds for the spool blocks I found the missing 35 blocks. I am very near 300 blocks so far. WHOOT WHOOT!!! I have promised myself that I will try to not straighten things up too much in the future.
I have another butterfly quilt all pinned up and ready for quilting. And did 6 loads of laundry today! I am bushed!

This is butterfly quilt #2 and is destined for daughter #1's birthday in July.

This is butterfly quilt #3 and is going to my great son-in-law Kevin for his June birthday. He is such a fine man and a great father to all of Lisa's children.
My goal is to have two quilts that can be displayed in her family room which is decorated with butterflies everywhere!

Okay, DH is hungry and I need to make him something to eat.
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Finally some sewing results!!!!!

Two weeks of making smaller units and finally some sewing results can be seen.
I have learned so much from making Bonnie Hunter's quilts. Do not let the number of pieces keep you from making a quilt that speaks to you.
I simply broke it down into "units" and as I finished a unit it went into a baggie that then went into an empty ice cream tub. Ever since I read that this blogger:

http://strawberrypatchquiltworks.blogspot.com/

saved her husband's empty ice cream containers for whatever...I knew I needed to start saving my empty containers. They work great for strings, crumbs, finished units and yes, as you can see in the photo below, my hexies for the HGTV May 2013 swap I signed up for.

I have four of the "A" blocks made. I love how batiks are so colorful!

And when Our Bonnie Hunter showed how she had to clip her pieced flying geese to get the seam to be flat I knew I could use that technique to make my smaller flying geese behave too!!!  Nice and flat!!!!!

And I need a bagillion 4 patches. So instead of sewing them all, I made a few and I am using them as my Leaders & Enders as I sew block "A". Once again I have to thank Our Bonnie Hunter.

Here are my first ten fabrics for the Hexie swap. Nothing like a nice stack of fabric to make my heart sing. Right! It does not take much to make me happy.

Four packages arrived today for the two swaps I hostess over on Yahoo. It was so cold that the Postal Carrier's pen was frozen. She needed to borrow a pen so I could sign for the package that came from Australia. I had her step in the house and her glasses fogged over. She could not see. Too funny! I gave her a fresh pen to keep. Maybe one could thaw while one was being used. I treat my Postal Carriers with lots of respect. I appreciate all they do.
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FINALLY! A Log Cabin quilt...well almost!

Finally! I am pretty sure I am mostly caught up with the "have to get done" quilts and I could return to my bagillion Log Cabin blocks I made last month.
I decided to make it in square sections as opposed to row construction. I sketched it out on graph paper so I have a "road map" of sorts.

 I am VERY pleased with the colors. The lights are all tans and darker creams...no whites or tone on tones at all. It seems nice and rich to me. This one will be for our bed. I am going to go 4 sections across (only three pictured) and five sections down. It will be approximately 115" X 144". I know that sounds too big for my queen size bed. But DH and I both like extra width and especially extra length!!!!

 The blocks seems like an endless supply to me. Yet I am still having issues
(OCD ME)
with not having like fabrics close to each other.

 As a result, I made many more Cheddar Bow Tie blocks between section piecing. That container still has many pre-cut units waiting for sewing. I really made lots of units for these little blocks. Remember Bonnie's Cheddar Challenge.
The blocks are made with 2" larger squares and 1 1/4" smaller squares.
Love this size block 3 1/2" !!!

 Here is my Bess. She is enjoying the fact that I am not pressing today. It is too warm to even try and fight the air conditioner. (95 outside)

 And here is MaggieMae. Her fur is growing out so fast. I did take the scissors to her head area. She no longer looks like an owl! HA!

 I bought $12 worth of Hens and Chicks. I planted them in a few places like under the bird feeder and in this flower pot. Something keeps chewing on them and also pulling them out of the ground. I am thinking it is my precious squirrels. The two breeding females have brought their young ones to our yard for easy food gathering. I know. It is my own fault.
So, for the meantime, I am keeping the Hens and Chicks in the house. I am praying the kitties don't try to play in the soil!!! GRRR!!!!!!

 Yesterday this white pigeon was in our front yard.
It was eating bread I had thrown out. It was huge!!! And very tame acting!!
I wonder where it came from.
I have not seen it today.
Let loose from a funeral maybe???
The Catholic Cemetery is right across the road from us.

 I made this quick little quilt yesterday. It was from a kit. But I ended up NOT following the pattern. That had as much to do with my own "eye" as the fact that the incorrect fabric cuts too. Anyway...it is done and waiting for quilting. It needs to be done in September 2012.

 And more Leaders and Enders of course!!!

I was visited by an old friend today. Abby is not old. (18) But she and I have been friends since she was a little girl and our next door neighbor. They moved away a LONG time ago. She comes back occasionally to visit me. What a rush!!! She was driving!!! I took her under my sewing wing back then. She was a natural seamstress. I miss her and her family so very much!
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More progress on the Log Cabin blocks!

I have been on an amazing journey through my oldest fabrics. I have been in love with neutrals and browns since my first fabric collecting began. I saved every tiny scrap back then. And nothing has changed in that area. I am more organized now but I still have way too much fabric.
I have been inspired by a lecture and some books by Edyta Sitar. She was so great to listen to and her colors seemed to call to me. I have those colors...in great quantities. ( But buried somewhere in my storage areas.)

 I have a great collection of 1 1/2" squares and as I cut those for swaps I do cut extra strips and save them. 1 1/2" seems to be my "go to" size. I use them up as fast as I cut them. Our Bonnie Hunter seems to favor  the 2" size. That drawer in my cutting area never gets open much...
I started making some Log Cabin centers over the weekend. Somewhere I decided that I need to make 288 blocks. Seems doable...in small hunks.
As I depleted my strip supply I kept digging deeper and deeper into my stash. I am so happy that I am doing this Log Cabin project in "hunks". That way there is a great variety of fabrics with no repeats. And I got reacquainted with my golden oldies.

I use lots of containers and baskets are pretty to look at too. So all 288 centers are fed into that basket behind my machine.
I pull a few out and make about ten blocks at a time and then begin all over again with a different set of strips. No repeats...remember?

I switch up the combinations as I sew yet still keep a good control over the blocks to be HAPPY with the fabric combinations. I did add some deep blues and greens in the first group of blocks but I am not totally happy with them in there. So I have decided to not use those blocks in this current project. They will get used in another even more scrappy Log Cabin quilt. I can assure you that I am totally addicted to making these Log Cabin blocks.

  And in between strips I am doing my Cheddar Bow Tie as Leaders & Enders per our famous Bonnie Hunter. (http://www.quiltville.com)

 Yesterday I had 70 7 1/2" dark/light and 40 all light blocks done.

Today was laundry day and as I waited between loads I HARVESTED more strips for the next set of blocks.

 Lots of strips...I am planning on taking this project with me to my guild's sewing retreat on April 20-22 at Bearcreek Farms. I am trying to not sew too many before I leave on that trip.

So....I cut some 1" strips. 1 1/2" strips look and feel ginormous next to these tiny strips. I tied them in bundles this way eons ago. And the fabric is a fresh as the day I cut it 15 years ago.
I added more from the newly harvested fabric. I did not generate any strings doing this. These were my strings. HA! I used the same batik pink as the centers. I have 42 centers started...that is how many I was able to cut across the width of the fabric strip. I am thinking I will want more so I have ripped another hunk from that batik pink. It still needs to be pressed and cut.
Do any of you rip instead of cut off bolts of fabric? I know it does bruise the edges. But those get cut off anyway. And ripping gets the fabric totally on grain when pressing before cutting.

  And here is the result of just a couple hours of sewing. I have 42 teeny tiny Log Cabin blocks made. They still need many more rounds added. But I could not resist comparing the two size blocks!!!!

Aren't they cute?????

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