Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Whew.  I got the last two rows attached after dinner tonight.  Discovered one "error" in placement that I couldn't live with and swapped two blocks for my picky self. 

Now I need to put the four or five inch wide borders (a bright navy wallpaper print pattern) on.... and I will CONQUER the mitered corner(s) in the process.

But for tonight, I stood on the stairway and gazed down at my Civil War Block of the Week quilt top (http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/).


Me likee! 

Except that now that I can see it as a picture, I see one more block to correct.  Middle of bottom row...block four from the left....

...my  Apple Tree block is upside down.  Sigh.  I will fix that tomorrow!  Here is how that block should look!  http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/2011/11/46-apple-tree.html

This was a truly fun quilt to make.  The blocks are 8 inches in size, which was of course, a tad easier to work with than the Farmer's Wife blocks and the Sylvia's Bridal Quilt blocks.  It was interesting reading the history that inspired the blocks. 

After this has borders, it is going to visit Cotie and her long arm quilting machine.  It's just too big for my little quilting frame.  Cotie is planning to use an all-over meander in a "sandstone" color thread and then it will come back to live at Chez Bury! This one is staying right here!  :)

Next up, the next row of Farmer's Wife, Sylvia, some string blocks, and a date with a Diva!!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Feeble mind....

Two posts in one day....

Can't remember if I've posted these, but I finally (after a year of having one hanger holding nothing at all!) have three months of "Home Is Where the Heart Is" blocks displayed....

Here is one of the ones I just completed (February).


And here are the three over my sofa.....


I am loving these.... but I need to get going on the next three!  Six or seven weeks until I need to put the next quarter's blocks up - April, May and June!  One of my goals is to have these blocks completed and check this off my UFO list for 2012. 

Sew many projects, sew little time!

Time's flying....

Time's flying way too fast!  Christmas started early for me when Yvette gave me a special gift that I just LOVE!!!  She made a sweet mini-tumbler quilt and then framed it into a wooden serving tray! 



I kept my little GingerBread Boys in it for the Christmas season, and now it holds three pretty candles and Karen and I light them when we watch TV downstairs.  I don't know how Yvette did it, but the tray is so cute and I love the mini quilt in it.  :)

Christmas came and went and it was a special blessing for us, a really precious memory maker.  One of the funnier moments was my first gift which began ringing as I looked at it.  Michael gifted me with a SmartPhone....  I love it!  I'm not any smarter, but I am really enjoying this phone!

One of Karen's gifts was Rock Band....  And though we've not had playing sessions as often as she would like, we did have one Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and even Michael got in on the action.





Jason brought me a special surprise after Christmas!  He had a tiling job in Los Angeles, and the homeowner mentioned he could have anything left in the soon-to-be-sold house that might be helpful to him...  He snagged a great sofa, and look at what he brought me....




And inside?




I am so excited, both that he thought of me when he saw it (he knows what makes my heart go pitter-patter!) and for the opportunity to restore the cabinet and stool.... and maybe someday, the machine!  Laurie has requested leopard print for the upholstered portion of the stool.... and I just might do that, because the idea makes me smile, and because when I contacted Singer, Co. with the serial number, I got the machines birthplace (Elizabeth, NJ) and birthday, September 25 (Laurie's birthday!), 1947!!  I will refinish the cabinet/stool first..... the machine will have to wait until I can find someone who restores old Singers!

January found our living room converted into Laurie's Storage Unit.  As she prepared to move to her new apartment, she stored things in boxes/piles....  We had a fridge by the front door and a queen mattress/box springs in the dining room....
 


And then February 1st rolled around, and all the boyz with pickup trucks descended on the house and cleared it out in no time.




Once we recovered from all the excitement of the Big Move....I promptly got a cold.  Sigh.  I haven't been good for much except


I did start to put together my Civil War BOW (by Barbara Brackman)..... I'm getting excited about getting this quilt completed.... I think I will be seriously considering sending it out to be quilted.  I don't know that I could get the finished size on my little frame upstairs and I really want to to be quilted beautifully.  There was a lot of work in it, and it's going to be mine, all mine! heehee!


I've also done some chili canning, and tried a number of new recipes.  Oh, and one other project I am happy to have completed:  I framed the puzzle Jacque gave us LAST Christmas and it hangs in my dining room area now!  We all four worked on that puzzle and it is another one of those special memories I treasure!


Thank you Jacque!

On this week's list?  Painting a bathroom, and hopefully more quilting!  I hope to get together with quilting buddies soon, and this is the year of Finishing UFOs for me.  That's the plan, man!