Next In Line...

I feel that I have really been neglecting my blog lately but there is just so much going on here and it is hard for me to concentrate constantly on my blog, so I sure hope that I don't lose any readers! I love you guys! :)

The snowstorm finally got here last night! We have about 7" of snow, the last that I checked. Of course my car will not go out of the driveway. But that is fine, got food and Diet Pepsi, so I can take it!!! LOL!

On the machine quilting front.....nothing new except, the customer quilt that I showed is still on the frame! :( I should have had it finished a few days ago, but I am so nervous about getting to the end, so afraid that I will run out of backing. It will be real close!!! So my goal for tomorrow is to finish that quilt!!! I can't get out to go to church so I am going to try to finish this up....hopefully.

Earlier I was looking through photos that I have stored on my computer and found this top that I pieced a while back. It is called, Boxy Stars, from Bonnie Hunter. I love the pattern, makes a great scrap quilt! Anyway, when I get to quilt one of my own tops, I think this is the one that I want to do first! I'm not even sure if I have a border on it or not! If not, then I want to add one before I quilt it. Not sure what design I will use either but I'll decide that later.
My sister, Chantal, spent the night last night! Been a while since she stayed here. She and mom live on the property that connects to ours. Mom left for work yesterday and Chantal spent the night here in case the power went out from the snow. We have a fireplace for heat and they do too, but mom doesn't use hers much. She is staying again tonight! Speaking of mom...she went work yesterday, got on the boat, started unpacking her things and could not find her diabetes medicine!!! I drove to her house and there the bottle sat on her bathroom sink!!! So Richard and I jumped in the car and took it down to the office. They were supposed to get it to her today but today they said it would be tomorrow!!! She really should not be without this medication!!! Just worries me!
Kristie

More Customer Quilting

Well we are expecting another BIG snowstorm this weekend! :( Trying to prepare for it, so if you don't hear from me for a few days you will know that our power is off as usual! :( I am so ready for Spring!

Here are a couple of photos of a customer quilt that I have on the frame right now. It is very pretty red and blue log cabin quilt. I am quilting a random leaves design on it.
It is backed with a red backing and the top is red and blue so I am using a turkey red thread. It really shows up in the blue areas. Just pray that I don't run out of backing! It will be close at the end. The backing is cut crooked so one side was pretty short. I am trying to roll it tight so it doesn't take up too much extra. Hope that works! :)

This customer sent 3 tops to be quilted. This is the last one. The others are finished, the gray deer quilt that I showed in the previous post and one more, but the photo of it is on the other camera and I don't know where the cord is for it. Why can't they make one cord to fit everything for the computer??? :( Anyway, if I don't find the cord before I send them back, I will take another photo of the white/cream one.

I had another customer quilt dropped off today! :) The backing is some kind of pink fuzzy stuff. Not sure what the fabric is called but it is something like what you would make a teddy bear out of. The pile on it is short so hopefully I will not have too many problems with it. I haven't quilted with it before. Oh and the top is a Sunbonnet Sue, very pretty!

Kristie

Digging Up Smurfs!

LOL! Here is where the "digging up smurfs" comes from! :) You know me, I love to dig through my totes and stash. My closet in my bedroom is 12ft wide, it is full of totes with fabric and stuff like that in them. Anyway, way in the back corner, I found a tote that I did not know was in there. It was one of those 22 gal totes full of odd fabrics and scraps!!! I had it all dumped out on the bed. Hunter was in there with me, he walked back in the living room and Richard asked him what I was doing in there. Hunter said "Digging Up Smurfs!" LOL! Of course, Richard had to come and see what he was talking about.

I don't have a clue where this fabric came from but there is a ton of it! All of the fabric in that tote was like 80's fabrics. I have been ironing it all day and figure that I can cut it up and mix it in my scrap quilts and it will be fine! The Smurf fabric will go in a quilt as soon as I decide what pattern to use with it.
I found a lot of other stuff in boxes too. Like this....this is when I was a young teenager mom was teaching me to embroidery. I was doing this for my grandmother which lived right across the road from us. It was never finished and she passed away and was buried the same day as my high school graduation. The sad part is, as long as I can remember she always said that she wanted to live long enough to see me graduate high school and we buried her that day. Her name was "Opal" and my aunt bought me an Opal and Diamond ring for graduation so in a way she was with me. Anyway....on to something not so sad....

I found a huge box of these upholstery samples. Some are big, like 18x24 and some are 8x10. What on earth can I use them for? Any ideas???? The are a little thicker than regular quilting fabric.
This is rolls of bias that I got several years ago, got the big idea that I was going to make a rug!!! As you can see it is not very big! :)

I cannot knit but I can crochet, but nothing fancy, only granny squares! I found this yarn!
I found these granny squares, only about 25 of them, they need finished and made into an afghan. I found enough completed brown granny squares for an afghan, they just need to be put together!Last but not least...here is the quilt that I finished quilting the other day! It is a customer quilt. For some reason the colors did not show true. It is actually grays and silvers...
I did a simple stipple on it. I have another one pinned on the frame right now but haven't started on it yet.

Kristie

Friday Night Sew-In

This has been a busy week for us, just lots of family stuff! Here is what I worked on during the Friday Night Sew-In, this week!!! It is a customer quilt, I am just doing a simple stipple on it.
In the photo the thread looks white but it is actually gray to match the quilt.

It is now finished, just need to take it off of the frame now! I will probably do that in a few minutes.

Hunter is a little bit sick, just a deep cough. Picked both boys up early from school yesterday. Took Hunter by the doctor for some medicine to help with the cough. Had to take Andrew to fill out papers for his PASSPORT! I am getting soooooooooo nervous about his trip but he wants to go so bad. Thank God, that they extended the payment deadline for the group! Anyway, now all is paid for and they will be leaving the 19th of March for.....Italy, France, Switzerland and they will have a layover in Germany!!! I will have 9 days of PANIC!!!!

Kristie

A Quilted Sampler

Here is Kris's (Quilted Simple) quilt that I quilted for her! I showed a small photo of part of the quilting that I did on the Friday Night Sew-In and she wanted to see the whole quilt before I mailed it out tomorrow! So here it is....
This quilt is completely HANDPIECED! And measures almost 100x100!!!! It is BIG!!!!

She did a wonderful job on the piecing, it layed sooooo flat. It was a real joy to quilt. I quilted it with the "Petal Flower" panto and I like doing that design. I used it also on the pink and purple that I showed a couple posts back.

This will go out in the mail in the morning.......Thanks Kris for allowing me the pleasure of quilting this quilt for you.

I'll load another one on tomorrow sometime, right now I have to clean my house! It is a wreck!

Kristie

Friday Night Sew-In

On my "Friday Night Sew-In" this is what I did! I worked on quilting this quilt for a customer!! It is beautiful!! I had planned on working on my string diamonds too but I was just too close to having this one finished. Long story short....I finished this on early this morning!!! Now it will be shipped back to the customer on Monday! I will post a photo of the completed quilt after it gets back to its owner!
This quilt is huge! It is COMPLETELY HAND PIECED!!! Amazing! She did an amazing job on it and it lays so flat! That is what I love!!

Today we had Christmas at my mom's house! She was gone during Christmas so we had to wait until she got back home. We were going to do it last weekend but my brother could not get out here because of the weather! We had a wonderful time today!!! I will post photos of that in the next post, I still have to load them on the computer!
Kristie

Backing to quilting

Well....I did get my frame moved in the house on Sunday afternoon. Since then I have been trying to get things put back in place. I've had a customer quilt on the frame since....like forever!!!! Almost finished with it and then when I bring the frame in here and set it back up......MY MACHINE STARTS BREAKING THREAD LIKE CRAZY!!!! :( I could just scream! Anyway, I took that quilt off the frame and loaded some scrap fabric on because I did not want to poke a zillion holes in the quilt. I quilted that scrap and more thread breaks! Now, I knew is was just something simple since it worked fine before we moved it. So after checking again to make sure the frame was level, changing the needle, bobbin, thread, cleaning it and everything else.....I loaded a donation quilt of mine on there!

Now this top was made years ago from flannel scraps, nothing fancy, but it will make a nice donation quilt where my sister works, it is only 52x52. Anyway, don't have a clue what the problem was, but during quilting this, I didn't have any major thread breaks so hopefully the problem is fixed. Now, this will get binding sometime next week.

So tonight, I will load the customer quilt back on the frame and finish it tomorrow morning!!! I can't wait to finish it, I will post a photo of it after it goes back to the customer.

Here are two other customer quilts that I did a while back and forgot to post photos of them. I always try to wait until after they are received by the customer before I do that. These two quilts belong to the same lady, she made them for her grandkids. They are both nice but this first one is my favorite!! Isn't it beautiful????

I forgot the name of the quilt pattern but it measures something like 80 x 102. I quilted it with a pantograph called "petal flower"
This is the quilt that she made for her grandson. I just did a simple stipple design on it, I didn't really know what other design to quilt it with, the fabric has "roses and skulls" on it.Anyway, hopefully I will have a few more photos to show you in a day or two. Tomorrow is "Friday Night Sew-In" my plans are quilting on another customer quilt and working on my string diamonds! I only need 20 more of those and I will have all the blocks done and I can start with the sashings!

The boys finally go back to school tomorrow! I know that they need to get back to school, but I will sure miss them a bunch! I always enjoy having them home.

Kristie

Nearly Insane Block 2

Finally I get some computer time! Between the boys being home and Richard starting in college, I can't get near the computer because one of them are always on it! :) The boys haven't been to school since before Christmas! They were supposed to go back on the 4th but we have had some bad weather so school has been cancelled. I called the school hotline a few minutes ago and they have cancelled it for tomorrow too.

Anyway.....we moved my frame into the house that we are in right now! We did this Sunday, well actually Richard and Todd, a good friend of the family did! :) That thing is very heavy! No picture this....where I live now is about 1000 sq ft. and it is very cramped as it is, now I have the big 12 ft frame in my living room. We had to move out the chair, coffee table and one end table! Trust me, it look very odd and thank goodness we don't have a lot of company but at least I can get my customer quilts finished. Then in the spring, we will move it back out in the new house again. I will post some photos in a few days of it.

Not really any quilting for me this week still trying to get my house back in order! I started quilting again on the customer quilt that I have on the frame and kept breaking thread! :( I got really irked! I figure the frame needs leveling and stuff so I will try that again maybe tonight! Really need to get these finished!

I've shown this photo before, but it is block TWO of the Nearly Insane quilt. I started this a year or so ago. I joined one group that we were doing one block a week but I fell behind and now they should be finished with theirs sometime this year! :( I really wish that I had kept up with that group of ladies! Anyway, I read a post on Tazzie's blog where she was starting this quilt and wanted some people to join along, so I jumped on the chance! I'm hoping that I can get these blocks done sometime before I croak!! :)

Tazzie made a blog just for these blocks! So if you want to join along let her know and she can add your name to the blog so that you can post your blocks too. Now I have 16 or 17 of these blocks finished, I didn't do them in any certain order, just picked a block and did it. I did post my Block 2 on the blog. You can check it out here! I will also add it to my sidebar.

Got to go, they are running me off the computer again! :)
Kristie

The past few days....

I have been sewing off and on the past few days. Still working on my string diamonds, I have photos later in the post.

Here is Andrew proudly holding up his driving permit that he got on Thursday. He does a very good job driving. He was very excited about it.
Our Friday night....we started working a puzzle for our great little family time. It was very cold outside so we had a big fire going in the fireplace and started working the puzzle on the coffee table. It was great fun! You all know that I enjoy any time that I get to spend with the family.

Today Richard drove up to get Lexie for the day! We had a wonderful time! The kids get along great and she is a really good girl. We all sat around and talked, laughed, they played in then snow, we visited with my mom and sister for a while and then came back here and had some homemade beef stew for supper before she had to go home. It was a wonderful time and I hope she can visit again real soon. We really hated to see her go home but hopefully it will not be very long before we get to see her again.
I am feeling a little better and have been sewing off and on the past few days on my string diamonds. I need a total of 124 of them and I now have 104 of them finished. Only 20 more to go!!!! I'm sure you all are getting tired of looking at them! :) LOL! I would love to get them all finished so that I can start piecing the top together, but since I am on a "no buying spree" right now, I will have to dig in my stash to see if I can find some muslin or something for the sashings. I really like how it is turning out.

Now that I am feeling better and the holidays are over, I will be getting my big butt in gear and get some machine quilting done. Right now, my frame is set up in the new house which is just in the backyard. I have two heaters out there and use them when it is cold and I am quilting, but when it gets down as cold as it is right now, it is hard to heat if really well. So...........I am bringing my frame in the house that I am living in right now! Not really enough room, but we will just have to live with it for a couple of months! Lisa, I'm sure if you are reading this you are wondering where in the heck that I am going to put it! hehehe! (Lisa and her family came down for a visit last Spring, so she knows how cramped it is right now) Anyway, Richard will be bringing it in and setting it up in the living room after Church tomorrow and I can quilt like a mad woman!!!!! I have a quilt on the frame right now and it has been on there for a while, I really need to get it done and off there! Should only take me an hour or so to finish it!

Now, I need to get off the computer and get the house cleaned up and ready for the frame to be brought in tomorrow!!!!! :)

Kristie

Friday Night Sew-In

As I was reading blogs this morning I ran on a little fun! I joined Heidi's Friday Night Sew-In!! Click the link to read more about it. Starts on Januray 15, 2010. All you have to do is settle in on Friday night and sew or do some other craft. Post about it on Saturday and then your name will go into a drawing for some goodies on Sunday!!!! Very simple and sounds like a lot of fun!

I'll be back later this evening for another post!
Kristie

Good News!

No photos tonight but have good news!!!! First off, Andrew got his driving permit today!!!!! He was soooooo happy! He smiled all the way home! Now I'll have a hard time keeping him home! :)

My other good news is.....Richard, my hubby, aced his college entrance exam!!!! Yep! You read that right, Richard is going back to college!! Starts next week and he is going into the NURSING field! It was something that we had talked about for a while now. He is very excited! Actually we all are! It will be hard for him at first, I'm sure, he will be 40 in July so he has been out of school for 22 yrs! But I know he can do it!!!

Now back to me! :) hehehehe! Feeling a little better and doing a little sewing at the machine. Still working on my String Diamonds. Right now I have 80+ of them done, I think I need 35 more to have all of the diamonds done.

Off to do some laundry!!! :(
Kristie

On the mend...

It has been a couple of days since I have been online, hopefully now I will start feeling better! :) I haven't been sewing or even thinking about it for a few days until a couple of hours ago, I started to feel restless, maybe that is a sign that I am getting better. Anyway, don't feel like moving around much so I thought I would get out the quilt that I have been hand quilting for a year or two! Hehehe! I am slow, but I do enjoy it. So far, I had Richard to get the quilt for me, I threaded the needle and stopped! Not much progress, I know, but at least it is ready when I want to start working on it again! Here is a photo of the quilt, before it was finished.
I didn't feel like stretching it out and taking another photo of it now, but at least you can sort of see what it looks like. It is queen size now!! Doing a simple cross-hatching pattern on it. This quilt was made from a bunch of 2.5" squares that I had cut from my scraps a while back.

Other than that, nothing really going on here! The boys have not gone back to school from Christmas break! We have a little bit of snow on the ground right now, so they have cancelled school so far this week. Now in the forecast we are expecting several more inches of snow, so that will keep them out for several more days. They are loving it!!! But it just makes them go longer in the Summer.

Now I'm off to read blogs and answer a ton of emails that I have.
Kristie

My String Diamonds...

I have had several people ask me about my string pieced diamonds that I have been making! I'm telling you they are addictive! I never imagined that they would be like this. Anyway, online you can find a ton of quilt patterns to make with strings, some are from squares, some are diamonds, and some are triangles.

A few months back I bought this book at the bookstore. I love scrap quilts and most of what I make are scrap quilts, so these string pieced blocks are perfect for the odd little pieces leftover.

This is the quilt that I plan on making with my diamonds! It is called "Diamond Strings with Lattice" I really like it! Here are a couple of other quilts that are in the book that you could use the diamonds for. This one is called "Scrap Happy"
And this one is called "Eight Point Stars"

I'm sure there are other patterns that could be made with the diamonds but these are just the ones in the book that I have. The book also has string pieced Bow Ties, Spools, and other star designs. I think after I finish this quilt and when I start another string project, I will do it using squares.

Here it is after 4pm, and I have not sewn the first thing today. I have been trying to clean house and organize a little. The boys go back to school tomorrow :( I have really enjoyed having them home with me for the past few weeks. Off to fix some supper...spaghetti and garlic toast!

Making Progress

Hope everyone had a great New Year! We all stayed home and had some family time, it was great! I did a little sewing, moved my machine into the living room and sat in the big comfy chair while I sewed! Richard told me not to get to comfy because I was only sewing in there because he new that I did not feel good and did not feel like sitting in the hard chair! :) Whatever! :) I worked on my string blocks! Is it a bad sign when you dream about scraps and strings? hehehe! I never thought I would like working with strings like that! Over the past few days I have sewn several more blocks. I now have 58 blocks done, still need 66 more!

Do you remember the tops that I posted the other day that still needed borders on them? I think I had 4 of them. I got two of them done. I know the photos don't really show the borders very well, but I promise they are on there! hehehe! I actually forgot what the name of this first one is, but I have it written down in my book, so I will look it up later. I added a green print border on it.
This is my scrappy bargello that I made a while back. I really like this design, and I just remembered that I have a green scrappy one in the works somewhere! I will have to dig it out, I think I have about half of it done. On this one I added a dark red print border.

Just wanted to show a couple of photos of my new/old little baby. I know it still needs some cleaning done on it, but here it is....A 1933 Singer Featherweight!!! I checked the serial number and this is the first year that the 221 was manufactured. She sews like a dream!!! Don't know yet if I will keep her or sell her.You can see the case in the photo above but here is a photo of the attachments and manual. Even has the needles and lubricant! I used her sewing some of the borders on tops tops!

I have slept most of the day today! I feel like CRAP! :( Anyway, I'll stop complaining now! :) Mom is home, she came home today!!! I haven't seen her yet, but she sounds very tired!

It is almost 10 pm, so I will probably go to bed soon and hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!

Kristie