Getting There

Well, I guess it is Happy Belated New Year!  One of my quilt guild friends asked me last week why I had not been blogging.  It never occurred to me that I had not been blogging and so I am now puzzling through that one myself.  Where did the time go?  We had wonderful holidays and I got to enjoy our daughter for 3 weeks, so not much sewing accomplished.

Our daughter left Monday for Turkey to work in a K-12 school for Syrian refugees.  She will only be there about 6 weeks and is helping the teachers and grade 12 students with English proficiency.  She is going as a volunteer and is excited about seeing another part of the world.

Off on a new adventure

So now no more excuses for no sewing.  I finished the 12th block of the Threads of Memory quilt offered by Barbara Brackman on the Civil War Quilts blog.

Final Block

All 12 Blocks Finished!!  WooHoo

 I went to the LQS on Tuesday and found some fabrics for the setting triangles and main border.  There is still more fabric to select for inner borders, but I think I am headed in the right direction.

Someone asked me to post a photo of my finished garland that I put together for Christmas.  Here it is

It really  made a nice effect on the banister.

The Tree Ripe truck is coming in about 20 minutes to the mall nearest my house with a load of Honeybells.  They are so delicious and sweet.  So this is a short post with a happy ending!

Almost Done

I can hardly believe the year is almost over.  For some reason I don't feel like I have accomplished much.  Some of my days really stand out, but most just blur together.  I guess that is true for most of our life.  This sounds like a resolution coming on, but I'm not going to kid you or me.  I'll just keep plugging along and focus on the good stuff that is happening around me.

I just finished the 11th block of the Threads of Memory from Barbara Brackman's Civil War blog.

November

 I have enjoyed this so much.  She provides some really detailed stories about the lives of people who lived through the horror of slavery and  many resources to learn more.  She and her mignons have also provided a great BOM that is not very stressful and results in some beautiful blocks.

Only one more to go!

Next month  she is providing setting options.  I think I have one picked out already, but I could be swayed.  I still have the December block to piece.  The pattern was posted this past Saturday so I may be able to finish it still this year.  I took the day off today from everything else except laundry so I can sew without interruption.


We so enjoyed having our family here for Christmas.  This is the first time we have all been together for quite a few years and it was such a fun time.  Our son's girlfriend even joined us.  It was the first time our son had been home in a year and a half.  Our daughter came home from Japan - another stopover between foreign teaching jobs.  We were truly blessed.

Such a cute couple!

Wishing you a truly Happy and Pieceful New Year.

Designing Monday

I pieced a top for the local homeless shelter this week.  We were given a packet of 6" squares at the last guild meeting and asked to piece a top that is 11 x 15 squares.  As I started sewing, I found that some of the squares weren't cut quite right.  Some an inch or two too long, which is okay.  But some were cut skewed or 1/4' too short.  I also really don't like the idea of trying to match all those corners. This is a utility quilt that will be washed over and over, so it doesn't have to be perfect piecing, but I still want to do the best I can.  So I decided to offset the blocks like tiles.  This meant adding a few pieces from my stash which I am always happy to downsize.

Here is the top in progress.  Wow is that fuzzy!

Looks like I got a little carried away adding blocks on that row!

I'm currently trying to piece the September block from the Threads of Memory sew along on the Civil War Quilts blog by Barbara Brackman.  I seem to be making it a lot harder than it should be.  I'm sure I will get it figured out in my lifetime, but today it seems to be eluding me.

I somehow got sucked into the vortex of Lori's Humble Quilts Sew Along this week, too.  I don't know how that happened.  One minute I was reading her blog and the next I was dashing around my sewing room finding every little scrap I could find and voila!  Here are the first two steps of the mystery:

I received my silk scarf from the teacher of my class.  Here is the finished product.  I really love it.  However, I haven't been able to find anything in my closet to match it with, so I guess that means a little shopping excursion is called for.

Hop on over to Judy's blog  to see more beautiful designs.

And Then There Were Nine

My only sewing this week is the October block of Barbara Brackman's Civil War Quilt called Threads of Memory.  I have now finished 9 of the ten published blocks.  I should get caught up this week.  These are some beautiful and big (12") blocks.  They go pretty fast.

 Block 10 - Britain's Star

9 Down, 3 to Go

Hope you are having a great week!  We have had a tiny bit of snow the last two mornings.  My hubbie is convinced it is time to move south.  

Hop over to Judy's blog to see more beautiful designs.

Designing Monday

This is my only sewing for the week.  This is the newest Threads of Memory block from Barbara Brackman.  I seem to have problems with the directions on some of these blocks and the templates don't always work for me.  I can't get them to print at the right size, etc.  So I drafted the block so I could paper piece and that worked well.

Here are all my Threads of Memory Blocks together.  I started out thinking I would make them all in blue and cheddar and then added some yellow and pretty soon the red slipped in there too.  I think it is more interesting with the added color.

Thursday is a big day.  Quilt Expo is coming to Madison again.  This is Nancy Zieman's show which is a benefit for Wisconsin Public Television.  So I get to share a day with my friends, support a worthwhile cause, and look at fabulous quilts all day long!  It doesn't get any better than that.

Hope you are having a fun holiday!  It is raining here so we are indoors!!!

Hop over to Judy's for some more design happiness.

Designing Monday

I finished the latest block for Threads of Memory from Barbara Brackman's Civil War blog.  I really enjoy reading her blog entries and learning more about the history of our country, particularly since she writes about events that are not part of the history books in school.

Enjoy your day and hop over to Judy's blog to see more Monday designs.

Designing Monday

I finally got busy and made some progress around here.  I finished piecing the Cheddar and Blue quilt that I started about a month ago.  I really like how it turned out and am glad I kept it to a 5x5 size.  I think it is about 65 in. square.

The Threads of Memory Quilt from Barbara Brackman has been calling me to get another block done, so I finished the block for May.  It had paper piecing and set in seams.  I usually like to paper piece, but it almost got the best of me.  It didn't help that I cut my fabric backwards and ended up making the center of the block backwards.  The set in seams were a breeze in comparison.

I visited a couple of local quilt shops this week to pick up patterns for the Row by Row Experience.  I think that's what it is called.  The patterns are designed by the quilt shops and not at all what I expected.  I'll have to decide if I have time to fit this in.  Anybody else participating in your area??

Hop on over to Judy's to see some really beautiful designs.

Designing Monday

Where is spring?  We are still freezing here in Wisconsin even though the thermometer says it is above 32 degrees.  The grass is trying to green up and the flowers are trying to push up through the dirt.  The rabbits and deer have already bitten off all my tulips so it might as well still be winter!  It's almost May for Pete's sake.

Since the weather is yukky, it left lots of time for quilting.  I finished this doll quilt that was the quilt of the month from the Sentimental Quilter.  I enjoy her designs and love her fabric choices, so these are an easy choice for  me.

I am also doing the Threads of Memory Block of the Month from Barbara Brackman.  The historical perspective that she provides on her websites is so interesting.  I love to read her many posts and learn so much about fabric as well as obscure history lessons.  I finished two blocks this weekend.

Our traveling daughter has a job and will be leaving us again this week.  She has been staying with us here since February which has been such a delight.  She is funny and always entertaining.  Her next trip is to Japan.  This is only a 3 month job, but it will give her a chance to see a little of the country and perhaps think about a longer contract there.

She and I made a quick trip to Chicago this week to get her visa processed.  We drove down on Monday night to avoid as much traffic as possible in  Milwaukee and Chicago.  We stayed downtown and had a 4 block walk to the Japanese consulate.  The 4 blocks were all the campus of the Northwestern University Medical Center.  Wow!  Three hospitals and lots of doctors offices.  The consulate is in the same building as the Neiman Marcus and across the street from Water Tower Place and the Hancock building.  I had lots of sight seeing planned for us.  We got to the consulate when it opened and they decided that my daughter's passport was too full.  They need a full clean page to attach the visa and at the ripe old age of 25, my daughter has already filled her passport.

Step 2:  Back to the hotel that we already checked out of and find the business center so we can print out the forms for a new passport.  Then make an appointment (You have to have an appointment!!!) and grab a cab to the Passport Agency.  It's located in a Federal Building (think armed guards and metal detectors) where we waited in line to be found non-threatening to national security.  Then up to the 18th floor.  More armed guards waited for us there.  We arrived exactly on the dot of her appointment only to be told that the photos she had printed out at home were not good enough, so back down the elevator and across the plaza to the nearest Walgreen's.   Back through security and up to the 18th floor again and the 2nd team of security guards and she made it through the first checkpoint -- photos okay, paperwork okay.  Take a number and wait to be called.  This took another 15-20 minutes.  She spent 10 minutes with the clerk and they can have the new passport ready by 3 pm.  This is great news.  We expected it the next day as they advertise expedited passports in 24 hours.   It must have been a slow day although there were lots and lots of people there.

Step 3:  Lunchtime and a 2 hour trip to the Art Institute.  I have been to nearly every museum and tourist offering in Chicago, but this was my first trip to the AI.  It was such a wonderful place.  Definitely go if you are ever there.  We had lunch at Berghoff's, an old German restaurant.  My favorite thing was a mural by our table of the White City -- the Columbian Exhibition.  I could hardly pay attention to anything else as I studied all the details.

Step 4:  By dumb luck we passed a FedEx office on our walk back to the Federal Building and were able to arrange shipment of her passport and visa back to our house.  Back through security up to the 18th floor through the next shift of security guards and pick up the passport at 3:15 pm.  Down to the plaza to catch a cab back to the consulate.  We arrived 15 minutes before closing time and left everything in their hands.  The processing time for the visa is 3 days.  Right now it is IN THE MAIL.

I was exhausted and ready to come home.  We dashed though the Neiman Marcus and back to the car to hit the road before 4:30 and rush hour.  It's a good thing I love that girl and we have so much fun together.  This was definitely more excitement than I have had in a long while.

Hope your week is great and thanks for stopping by.  Hop on over to Judy's blog to see more beautiful designs.

Designing Monday - Threads of Memory Part 1

I have decided to take on Barbara Brackman's latest Civil War quilt.  It is a BOM, so I should be able to keep up. LOL!  Here is my first block.

Portsmouth Star

My task this week is to add more quilting to my Idiom quilt for the upcoming quilt show.  I sort of short cut the quilting part so I could get it bound and entered in the judging last week.  So now I need to give it some pizzazz.  Hopefully that won't distort  the quilt or I will have to take the binding off and do it again.  That doesn't sound like much fun.

Have a great week.  Hop on over to Judy's blog  to see some more beautiful designs.