All Kinds of Stuff

Here is some of the applique I worked on the other night...it is for the Tablerunner of the month club I just joined..this is for April's pattern.

The binding for my other tablerunner...should get this thing done on Spring break this week.

We had a fender bender last Saturday as you can see. My girlfriend was driving and since the 101 was closed we had to take some other regular roads and they were all stop and go traffic...we were stuck in a non moving lane and she decided to pull into the slow lane since she wanted to make a right turn up at the lights. She checked in the mirror and turned around and it was clear (traffic was stopped in that lane ahead of us but not up to us) and she pulled out...the guy was going WAY TOO FAST for that kind of traffic but the speed limit there was 45...we could hear his brakes and all of us had time to grab our seats and hang on it took so long for him to hit us. I didn't even look in the mirror to see what was coming, just braced for one heck of an impact. Luckily he only got the back corner of the car and it wasn't near as bad as the 30 seconds leading up to the hit! Everyone was fine, we have insurance, pain in the rear but life goes on...smile.

We hung shelves in CJ's room last weekend and here is the picture of some of his junk (I mean treasures) up there. See the big green quilt, my grandma Nan made that years ago and my sister has a matching purple one. Gma passed them on to us a few years ago. They aren't super fancy, have thick batting and are tied, but a quilt is a quilt!

Here is Daisy checking out the tomatoes and peppers we bought. I need to take another picture in the light of them after we repotted them. We are hoping to get some veges!
And here are our new flowers and the pot..I LOVE THE POT. It wasn't in the budget but we went nuts and bought it anyway...figure we will have it for years and our back porch needs some color and excitement.

Here is the pot close up. The other side has a different design, but that sun is so COOL! (or should I say so HOT!) You can see the table and chair set my parents passed on to me that we painted too. They are comfortable chairs.

I applied for a job with some relay companies (sign language interpreting on video phone) and hope to be interviewing soon. I have heard some rumors that with all the budget cuts some of us newbies won't be back next year anyway so good thing I had already planned on doing something else! Oh and the girl that called me the expletive...administration sent me back her referral and told me to call her parents to tell them I gave her a 0. Sigh, no suport there which suprises me. I went down to talk to the head guy about it but he is tied up until after break so...onward and upward!

American Idol and a Tablerunner Class

Just finishing up American Idol here and I have three or four people I really like, but tonight Adam blew it out of the box. I would buy his album! I held my breath waiting for the judges to agree with me and they did. I hope he goes all the way--AMAZING!

Tonight I went to the tablerunner class at the Cutting Edge. I had trouble getting the book with the supply list before the class though I stopped in twice ahead of time. So I just went and met the teacher and got enough info for next month's class. She seems great and I think I will really like the class. I came home and got to work on tracing applique and cutting out some of it. I can do the Jan, Feb, and March tablerunners on my own and bring them in if I want...think if I do some at home I can end with the year's worth of runners even though I am starting late. Don't really know what I need them for or why I am making them, lol but I wanted to meet more quilters in the area and sounds like she will help me learn how to quilt them too! I haven't done much (in the ditch, cross the seams, etc.) so that is exciting to know. She said it is a small evening class so we get alot done! YIPPEE! Almost wish I would have been prepared to stay tonight but that is okay. I had a migraine earlier (mild) and it went away in time to go..yay to that too.

Have I mentioned Spring Break is next week. I CAN'T WAIT! Today one of my students called me a "F--ing B-I-T-C-H" because she was upset about her paper grade. My first and last year of teaching high school. Smile. Wrote her up but still have to deal with her tomorrow I am sure. Sigh. Her best bud is the duck throwing girl you may remember from an earlier post.

Colonial Quilt Bluework and DD Continues!

Hard to see in this picture, but I traced out four more blocks for the Colonial Bluework by Ruby McKim. Tonight I plan to watch Beverly Hills Chiuahuaha and work on a block or two. I am awaiting my darling and my Indian food dinner!

This quilt will be bigger than my design wall, but look two little rows on the other half so only THREE more rows to go! Of course other than that lone block up there the others aren't yet put together! Starting to feel like I will get it done though so I will keep on plugging away at it. I am not really pinning anymore...started out being really good about that, but now I am happy with how they come out when I carefully lay the blocks together and sew slowly and eyeball things. If I am not happy I frog stitch. There has been a bit of that, but I want to be delighted with this quilt when it is done (doubly) so I am taking my time with that.

Double Delight Top is Half Together!

Half the Double Delight top is done and together! WHOOT WHOOT! So excited seeing this come together....also in relooking over the directions I discovered I only need 20 (not 30) of the clue 5 block so I am really coming along with 27 of my 50 total blocks done!
Amy--how you doing? SMILE!!

Quilt History Class--Marie Webster

Last Thursday was my quilt history class and we were mostly focussed on Marie Webster. I thought I would type up my notes here in case others are interested and so I can keep a record of what I learned! Sorry if I am not 100 percent accurate but this is what I got out of our talk. Her patterns were published in color (in a pretty much all black and white magazine) and I think were the first ones seen in color in print. She wrote a book in 1915 "Quilts: Their Stories and How to Make Them" which is now out of print. I love that she saw that quilts were more than bedcoverings and warmth, they had stories that were important enough to tell. I hope to one day find a copy of this book and see what all she had to say. Her most popular patterns were published between 1914 and 1918 through the Practical Patchwork Company. I believe this was part of the Colonial Revival with the softer colors and big florals.

Her granddaughter Rosalyn Perry republished some of her work in "A Joy Forever" and in 1921 Marie Webster was honored in the Quilter's Hall of Fame.

We then had a guest speaker Opal who was an amazing lady! She brought lots of her family's quilts and some clothing she made to share with us. She attended a mission school in Greenskin, KY as a child and they used the quilts her mother made. My favorite one that she showed us was a strippy quilt with strips of aqua and lots of various leftover fabrics in the alternating strips. It had a nice impact on me (I drew it out on my paper) and she could tell us which piece of fabric came from what which was fun! We all told her she needs to record her history and the quilt history on video for her family. I hope they find time to do it in case someone down the line is interested in it. I only wish my ancestors had recorded more information about their lives and the stuff in them. I think that is why I keep track of all this stuff--hoping one day someone will be interested as I am. So if you are a descendent of mine reading this after I am long gone I applaud you--it is my dream that someone down the line cares!

So why do you blog?

Still More Progress on DD!

Jade, my little helper is fast asleep on top of my quilt blocks. Every time I take the lid off this container she is in it before I can recover it. Sigh, the quilt comes with cat hair!

The first three rows are all sewn together now and and the next two are blocks just placed there. I finally feel the excitement of progress! I am about half way to getting all the blocks sewn now...so exciting! I think that is it for tonight.

Running Amok Top Done!

I worked on the mystery runner and got the top done today...had issues taking pictures though. The wind was blowng, the sun was here but not there, etc.

This is the best of the lot, inside on the back of the couch...will try again later!I have the binding all done for this one too, no clue where this one will go...just liked the colors though it doesn't really match my house at all!
Here are my fabric finds from the half off Saturday sale at Goodwill...this purple is made into curtains, but I will chop it up for some quilts.

Had to have this little stripe since I think it is an exact match to the fabric my great grandfather had a work pants out of or something..he used it for the fabric on his wooden quilt frame he made for grandma's hand quilting and tying...I have some of it and I need to compare it but this might be the same!

A little Christmas fabric to add to that stash.

And a bit of a colonial heritage fabric I couldn't leave behind...all told, this fabric was $2.50 so it was a deal!

And Randy returned from Ohio after his mom's funeral and Trooper was extremely happy to have him back. (This is my mom's dog I am dogsitting til we find him a good home. He is a year and a half and is a sweetheart, but I already have four dogs! My mom says he needs a person...)
I did one more DD block this morning, 17 down...one more row and I am halfway there! How are you coming on DD?