UFO Challenge & Snow

Well, we are finally having some snow, but did it need to be just when I was looking forward to friends coming to my home for open sewing on Monday?  Since the freezing rain came before the snow on Sunday night into Monday morning, it was just too treacherous for the ladies to come. We plan to get together next Monday. Hopefully the weather won't interfere again.

It is pretty out!! I love the fresh snow. Since we live in the country with no close neighbors, it stays so pristine looking.

Tuesday morning I bowled. Talk about not being able to hit the broad side of the barn!! It was not a pretty sight!!  LOL  We go for lunch after bowling.  Good thing I go for the socializing and the lunch because the bowling - STUNK!!!

Last night I finished the quilt top for the UFO Challenge. This quilt is for my youngest daughter, Brenda. I hope to get it on the quilting frame this week. It will just barely fit. My table only has 10 foot poles.  Here is my husband (he is standing on a chair) trying to hold the quilt up ---     Poor guy, I hid him behind the quilt.  He sure was patient about it.

Here is another picture with only 1/4 of the quilt showing. It is just too big to spread out. I think the last four borders look like it was planned from the beginning and not just slapped on to make the quilt bigger (although that is what was done -- ).

Participating in the UFO Challenge looks like it will be a good thing for me. It is so easy to procrastinate and not finish up projects.  Brenda will be happy to get this quilt. It will have a cozy flannel backing. There are fabrics left over for some accessories such as pillow shams.

Beth

Home Again in Hillman

It was fun to stay in Fargo and have a private retreat for a week, but it is sure nice to be home. I came home a day early because the driving conditions didn't sound very nice for Sunday.  Hubby was pleasantly surprised and happy when I arrived home a day early. My daughter and her husband arrived home from their trip on Saturday evening, so Chipper only had to be on his own for a few hours between when I left and they arrived home. Needless to say, he went absolutely wild when they walked in. Here is Chipper resting up for their arrival!!! 

On Friday, I went to "Fun & Finish" at Rae-Bon in Fargo. Arrived at 10:00 am and went home at 9:30 pm.  I did go home at 5:00 pm to feed, water, and let Chipper out. Met many nice ladies while I was there and, of course, there was a lot of good food to eat since everyone brought a dish to share. Since I was working on parts 3 & 5 of Orca Bay (which is a lot of repetitive sewing), it was great to have ladies to talk to and see what they were working on.  If I am at home, I listen to audio books when I have a lot repetitive sewing or piecing to do.

The shop is very nice. They carry a nice selection of fabrics, sewing machines, and machine embroidery supplies.  Two of the employees (Claudia on the left, and Kathy on the right) let me take their picture. I am still a little bashful about asking people to be in pictures for my blog, so that is all I have.

Claudia & Kathy

On Monday, friends are coming for open sewing. When I arrived home, most all the quilting supplies I had with me were just dumped into the quilt studio. Now I need to clean it up a little before anyone comes.

Since I have put pictures of my daughter Natalie's sewing/craft room on the blog, I will need to get my studio cleaned up and put some pictures on for you all to see.



Beth



More Fargo Stay

I am still in Fargo and Chipper (the sad dog) has cheered up and is back to his normal mischievous self. He likes to head over to the neighbors to see what they have put out for the birds. Right now he is resting after his hard day at the office!!  Yawn!

 The weather in Fargo is very cold right now and I am only too glad to stay inside and sew (and be on the computer).

In preparation for my stay, my daughter Natalie very nicely cleaned up her sewing craft room for me to use (now there is a picture record of what it looks like cleaned up --). Last year I did sew there, but this year I am doing a lot of cutting and her cutting surface is just too high for me. She is almost 6 inches taller than I am. The kitchen is working great because the counters are the right height for a cutting surface and the floor is laminate which is easier to clean up all the threads.

Here are some pictures of her sewing/craft room (her husband has a different name!!!  HeeHee). She has fixed it up cute and it is very functional for her. She likes to do mixed media, but she does do some quilting.

This is the view as you come down the hallway.

 

She found the desk for her sewing machine and the comfortable wing chair at rummage sales. The spice cabinet up on the wall, is a cabinet my mother made years ago.  The shelving units were originally taller units which Natalie cut down to her height for cutting/working surfaces and she put counter tops on the units.  While the guys are watching the football games, she can curl up in her chair and watch her own TV. It is a very nice cozy space to work in.

The rest of the pictures are working around the room clockwise. 



 

This shelf was from a place that does a lot of funky junk type of furnishing. It was originally meant to stand upright, but it works better to hang it side ways. That way it fit a lot of her stamps and supplies better. 

 

I am still working on my Orca Bay mystery quilt. Have completed all the cutting for parts 3 & 5. Skipped over part 4 for right now.  I wanted to have all the pieces cut and ready to go because I am going to a "Fun & Finsh" sewing at Rae-Bon quilt shop in Fargo on Friday. Did a sample of part 3 & 5. They have to fit together. 

Part 3 (only 350 of these units)



 

Part 5 (Adding wings to Part 3) - need 350 of the finished units.  They are all cut and ready to sew on tomorrow at the sew-in. 

 

This has been a productive week so far. Haven't had to worry about cleaning up after myself or cooking (weight loss TV dinners work just great).

Lunch on Wednesday with my daughter's sister-in-law was very enjoyable. We went to the Old Broadway in downtown Fargo. The food is great.

Received some text messages from my daughter and it sounds like the weather on the cruise has not been very enjoyable but they are having a good time with people they have met.

Well, back to sewing ----

Beth



Fargo Stay

I arrived in West Fargo, ND, on Friday evening and had a good visit with my daughter. We all went to bed early because they had to get up at 3:00 am and leave for the airport in Fargo by 4:00 am. They will be gone until next Saturday evening. Chipper, their dog that I am watching, started pouting as soon as the suitcases came into view on Friday evening and he has been one "sad dog" ever since. He does such a good job of being the sad doggy!!

Saturday was a lost day for sewing. Chipper cried after my daughter Natalie and her husband, Norm, left. That meant no sleep for me. I am such a sucker for the "sad Chipper". He really is adorable. On Sunday, I was finally able to get down to work. I have been sewing on part two of the Orca Bay Mystery quilt.  Good thing Norm can't see what his kitchen looks like right now. He "loves" to give his mother-in-law a tough time (all in good humor). Actually, I think I kept it pretty neat.

It is Monday morning and I am finishing the last of the string blocks. I have only six more of the blue string pieced blocks left to do. There are 72 of these for part two.

This afternoon I am going to see the movie "The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo."  I have read all three of the books in the series and seen the Swedish version of the movie. It will be nice to see this movie and compare.

It is so nice to be only a few minutes from all the amenities instead of a minimum of 20 miles to anything. I intend to take advantage of everything being so close by.

Beth

2012 Stash Reporting

Used this Week:                                        0 yards
Used year to Date:                                   0 yards
Added this Week:                                   20 yards
Added Year to Date:                              20 yards
Net Used for 2012:                               -20 yards

Starting my stash report a little late but better then never. Fabrics that I added are mostly flannel for the back of two quilts. I love to use flannel on the back of some of the quilts I make because it makes them feel cuddly and they stick to the bed better.  Besides, we usually have colder weather then this year. The fabrics were actually ordered before the end of the year but didn't receive them until after the 1st of the year. The rest was stash fabric that was "on sale".  I need to slap my fingers again and say "No Beth" you do not need it.  I did add a couple of pieces for my Black & White  collection for Orca Bay.  Will do better.  I have been on a fabric diet for the last year but did not keep track of how much came in and how much went out.  Well, it is a new year!!!

Use up your stash! See other reports via Patchwork Times.

Beth

Orca Bay Update

Of course I just can't leave Orca Bay alone. It is just too great a quilt and I WANT to work on it. (Does that sound like a spoiled child??) Guess what!! When it comes to this quilt that is the way I intend to be!!!

Part 1 is complete:

Part 2 has been started.  I used the doctor directory from our health insurance for foundation papers. They worked great.  Another item that is being recycled.

 Part 3 has been started:

Hopefully, I can start part 4 this weekend. I plan to sign up for a "Sit & Sew" for Sunday. It is always fun to work on projects, and have people to talk to, and eat, and have people to talk to and eat -- Can you guess what all I like to do?  Talk & eat, and, of course, sew!!

Beth

UFO Challenge Project

Blogging is already helping my severe case of procrastination. Once a  commitment has been made, I work very hard to fulfill the commitment. So I am still working on the January pick for the 2012 UFO Challenge (number five on my UFO list).  The quilt has become quite a challenge all on it's own. De-constructing and then reassembly has turned out to be more work then I had considered it to be.  Two rows of blocks have been added to the center to help make the quilt bigger. A series of four more borders will be added to get this quilt to fit a king size bed. I started out with a top that measured 66 inches by 77 inches. It is now up to 77 inches by 88 inches. That will cover the top of the mattress. Once all the borders are added it should be 103 inches by 114 inches. Since it was possible to purchase extra fabric, I hope to make some shams to match the quilt. 

My private retreat in Fargo is starting this weekend, so I hope to have the top done on my UFO before I leave on Friday. Looking forward to working on Orca Bay next week. Now I do have several outings planned while I am there. There are a couple of "Sit & Sew" at two of the local shops and those are always fun and a chance to meet new people.

Beth

A "DUH" Moment

Do you ever have some of those "DUH" moments? I know I just had one in the last couple of days. When I signed up for the UFO challenge, of course, I did not read everything as carefully as possible. Instead, I only skimmed the information. When listing my UFO's I did not take into consideration that each month a number would be drawn and that would be the UFO for the month. So the Orca Bay mystery by Bonnie Hunter was listed first because that is the one I want to work on while I am house sitting for my oldest daughter, Natalie, and her husband.

The number drawn for January is five. That is the quilt for my youngest daughter, Brenda. Hadn't planned on doing that one yet. The quilt was originally a shop model that I sewed several years ago. The colors are perfect for her bedroom but the issue is that the quilt is not big enough for her king-size bed. It will only fit a full-size bed. There was none of the main fabric left (brown/teal print) but I remembered that a friend of mine had ordered a kit of this quilt and had purchased extra to make it bigger. Well, long story short, I called her and asked if she had ever sewn the kit up. She answered "no" and didn't think she was going to but she was willing to sell me the fabric. Yaaaaa - now I can make the quilt bigger. Brenda will be glad because that means she may eventually get the quilt.

Moral of the story - Read the directions!!!! 

Beth

New to blogging!

I've come to the realization that I need to start blogging. Procrastination has become a fine art with me and it is time to break the habit. By writing about my plans and committments, I hope to accomplish the completion of my many quilting UFO's and do some serious stash reduction. 

Since I have retired from working in a quilt shop and teaching quilting classes, it is now time to make the quilts that I want to make (sounds selfish, doesn't it?) and reduce the stash that I acquired over many years.  You know how that goes ---  you see it, you just have to buy it. Our house is well insulated and sound-proofed with stacks of fabric.

For 2012, I am making a resolution to start a stash report. The intent is to reduce the over-whelming amount of fabric in this house.

Also, I plan to create a UFO list for 2012. Hopefully I can reduce the pile of UFO's.

I think this is a good start, so Happy New Year ----

 Beth