Strings Arrangement

Done with the blocks.  (Sorry about the pictures.)

Same picture without the ironing board intruding.

The red blocks are not like the others... a little bit too much saturated color. Seems like they are the only blocks that register as dark. Even the purple on the left isn't as dark.  Taking a picture to look at the arrangement is a neat way to step back from the quilt and see things like the reds. I could make 2 different blocks to replace them, but I don't want to. What do you all think? It is now 5 by 7 blocks... Each should finish at 8" so I've got a top that is 40" x 56" - that should be an okay size for a H2H quilt, don't you think so?  Do I need a border?  I'm really not that good at them.

Lots of these strings are garnered from swaps with 2 of my favorite blogger buddies, Val of
Val's Quilting Studio and Terri of Quilting Nonnie . Getting something in the mail (besides bills) sure brightens my day.   I should sponsor a blogland wide swap one of these days. What would you all like to share? 10  I Spy 10" squares?  How about 5 - 10" strips (2.5" wide) in random colors?  Something you could put in an envelope and brighten someone's day. Leave me a comment if you are interested.

All of our snow melted!  No shoveling required.  (I like winter, so this isn't such a great turn of events for me.)  If it rains today, we will have snow again. Last night it was in the teens - but it is above 30 now (at nearly noon). We are having a very unusual sunny day. (The unusual part is that it  is sunny.)  How is your "Fall" treating you?

Remember to comment if you want to swap.

Hugs,

Terri

Guess what came in the mail!

Just now we got our mail... I got this...

 Two, count them, two full BIG bags of strips from my Buddy Terri Bohling (who blogs over at Quilting Nonnie - Nonnie means Grandma, but you knew that.)   I sent her some I Spy snippets and now she has upped the ante. There must be hundreds of 2 inch X WoF strips!!! Wow! I gotta say it again... WOW!

Now some close-up shots of about 1/4 of one of the bags...

 

and again another 1/4 of one of the bags. (You know, I don't see any repeats!!!!!)

How generous, Terri. You did it now. I'll have to get you back somehow. (Heart) I'm going to watch TV tonight and fondle these. I've got a big night ahead.

Thank you soooooo much. You made my week, maybe month even! I've gotta figure out something special to make out of  these.

 

Hugs,

Terri2

Only one seam all week!

Oh the horror! Last week my machine started making a grinding sound... I was confident it only needed oil and lubrication... I'd just cleaned it a day or two before, because of the noise.  Did it, and no relief!  So Monday I took it to my local fixit guys... 2 weeks before they can even get to it!!!!!!!!!!!  No loaners available either.  I started having withdrawals... So then I bought an interim at Wal-Mart. That might have been my first mistake.

It's a Singer Sew Mate. Even though I have had 2 other Singers there was quite a learning curve.  The threading, bobbin filling and installation were so different.  When I felt confident enough, I sewed the one seam. It was bunchy at the start, but we overcame that problem, and finished that seam.  Stitches looked good, so we loaded up the next seam with pins, and tried again... that was the second mistake. After that only bunchy happened. I must have the bobbin in wrong, or the threading wrong somewhere. Anyway it was time to fix supper...  I'll try again this morning.

(Notice my sewing buddy, my Hedwig? She keeps me company while I sew.   Do you have a sewing buddy to keep you sane?)

 

 

One bit of brightness through all this.... Some Swappy goodness from Val. (Check out her blog.) Thank you, Val.  Love the fab fabrics and the cute card, and the support for my swap! You're good folks.

 

Have a Fab(ric) Weekend!

 

Hugs,

Terri

 

Does this ever happen to you?

Too many projects at once....

I had to lay these out on the floor. (There was no place on the design wall.)

 

 They are leftovers from two other quilts I've made... Why did I make over 100 extra blocks?  These are made up of three squares in the middle and 2 rectangles on the outsides of those 3 squares. Really easy. They are mostly blue or green with orange centers, except the orange ones with blue or green centers. I had to sew a couple of rows together right away, so I could get around it.

 I really love it, so it's going to H2H this year. (Last year I used some of these blocks for a quilt for H2H as well.)

Still nothing new here,

 or there. (below)

These 10" pieces are on their way to Val... Hope they help you think Spring.

Thanks for joining in on my Spring Swap!

Happy Weekend Friends!

 

Hugs,

Terri

One Name on My List - Exciting News, and an H2H flimsy, I'm cheating

So last post I suggested a swap.... Valerie Reynolds commented that she'd like to participate.  Well, Val, I guess you and I will swap springy colors. I'll send you  3 - 10" squares, and  you do the same. We'll have a bit of stash exchange; something to take the edge off of winter, some happy snail mail. Thanks for joining in. I really appreciate it.

In other news, our company has moved on to Las Vegas, NV. We had a great time with them! (Bill's brother and his life partner)  Love you guys! We took them up to Lake Tahoe and had a bit of a snowball fight along the way. Snow at 6500 ft. - about 50 degrees.

 In the biggest news.... My Oldest Grandgirl is Engaged!  They haven't worked out a date yet, but they are thinking June - OMG!  How's a granny supposed to get a special quilt together that fast?  I made this sketch - I'm thinking low density colors except for the center. What do you think? It might be too incongruous for the center to be red and everything else low impact.  Any  ideas?  I want it to be special, but easy.  She's the first grand to marry.

And now some floral views

 

Seems awfully early for my pear to be blooming... daffodils in the background haven't a single bud, strange.

Somehow, I've got this out of sequence... Talking again about the Grandgirl's wedding quilt: I have some UFO's, but those are earmarked for Hands to Help Charity Challenge... (See the button in the side bar.)  I finished this flimsy last night. It was already cut and partly assembled. (It had to come off of the design wall for the grandson's quilt... the one currently on the top of the blog.)  I inserted some paper pieced lady bugs  and a saw tooth piece or two. (The pink behind is a piece of thank you fabric from Val. I need to get that washed up. It isn't part of this quilt.)

So to summarize:  Help! and sending you some Springtime, Val.

Hubby's birthday tomorrow... off to Red Robin for his free burger.
Happy Hump Day!
Hugs,
Terri

Pig Faced Orange, Gift and Spring Coming

Now don't let yourself be scared by this picture... It isn't evil. It's just the Pig Faced Orange - famous throughout our house. Lol  I'd guess a branch gouged into the outer parts of this orange right where eyes would be.  (We leave our oranges to store on the tree - and ripen as long as they can. Once picked they start to rot. They are amazingly sweet! So we pick some for a week or so, and when we run out, pick another batch.)

 Above is the lovely gift I got from Val  in the mail this week. Thanks Val. It lead me to an idea for a swap. Anyone interested in swapping bright or springy fabrics in a kind of chain letter sort of way?  I'll accumulate names (links) if you leave a comment  saying you want to join in on the fun. We'll each send  3 - 10" blocks (from stash) to one name on the list that I'll make up and show on Wednesday next week. (I'm having company from England on Monday and Tuesday.)  Val's gift lifted my spirits, and we all need a bit of that now that winter is old.  What do you say? Are you in?

Here I'm going on about winter being old, and we have hardly had one here.  My flowers are starting to come out...

 

I have no idea what these are called, but they are reliable bloomers twice a year! (Don't you love reliable bloomers? Lol)  I call them Pig Ears, a gift from my neighbor to help with the Halloween plant give away. I've given 4 or 5 plants every year since, and the plant just keeps on giving.

Buds on the apricots!

Buds on the oranges!

 

So I hope this bit of California Sunshine lifted you out of the white stuff for a while. Remember to leave a comment to get in on the swap.

 

Hugs,

Terri

The Latest...

Pray for us!!!! I just sent my hubby to make the fish for supper. He's to go pick a lemon first then put it into the oven with the frozen talapia... we shall see. I'll report back.  (Nothing happens, Ladies, unless we do it ourselves. Men think cooking just takes seconds, and there it is all done and delicious.  I had to go cook;  he needed to sit and rest after picking the lemon!!!!!!!!!!! Sound familiar?)

A little break from the Harry Potter blocks, but still paper pieced and from Sewhooked in the Free Patterns section. I used the Linus Heart without the extra section to make these.

They were going to be cards for Valentine's Day for 6 of my grandkids, but I did send them candy, and that's really all they care about.   So I still have the hearts. Either they get saved for next year's cards, or I'll use them to decorate a shirt for me, and include another heart and each will represent one of the grands. I like that idea.

This is my gift from the Valentine Floosie Swap put on by Melanie of  Houseelf Doings. We were to send out a fat quarter that we wondered what we would ever do with it, some small sewn something or candy.  Thank you Kigwit from TX.

Here's a close-up of the fabric.  Yes, it is a half yard... you know how it goes. Generous people can't help themselves....

Aaaand I made 2 crystal balls.... a green future could be a really good future!  And the second one was a brainstorm in the middle of the night.  Looks like something... just can't quite tell what.

It does look like a happy future though, doesn't it?

Sew, I'm off to sew the next heart for #7 - lucky #7, my grandson, Ben... and then I should add a +, shouldn't I, to be given a paper pieced heart rounds about August 21st! (Yup! There's a lucky #8 in process right now!)  I've already got oodles of ideas for baby quilts.  Just need to know a gender...

Hugs,

Terri