Where does the time go?

The days, weeks, months just seem to fly by. I get things done but not as much or as fast as I'd like.

I have been quilting and have one finish - Blue Star. I bought the fabric for this quilt top last summer in Harrisonburg, VA. When I bought the fabric, I saw a photo of a star quilt with a white background. I used graph paper and figured out how to make a star and the size I could make it based on the amount of fabric I had. I thought the blue background would work well. 

This 55" square donation quilt is quilted with 40-wt Glide #30281 Blueberry thread. I used a horizontal stipple in the background and a stipple in the star. You might be able to see the quilting better in the next couple of pictures.

The back is blue fabric from my stash that is pretty close in color to the front. I also used some of the leftover pieces from the front.

Ray and I had a discussion about keeping this quilt - we both really like it. At the moment it is in the donation pile. Time will tell if it makes it out the door though!

I've been working on a graduation quilt for our oldest grandson, J. The first quilt I made was ice blues and pearl grays. Deciding that it might be a little light colored for dorm room use, I rejected it and made 2 smaller quilt's from the parts - J's Graduation Quilt Reject 1A and 1B. The following is picture of JGQR1B:

Then I made J a quilt with reds and grays from my stash. A couple of fabrics didn't look right and I wasn't real happy with some of the patterned fabrics so I rejected another quilt and made two smaller quilts that also used some of the leftover pieces from the original quilt. Next is JGQR2A: 

JGQR2B still needs a border:

I made J a third quilt which I will reveal after he receives it. It still needs to be quilted. The need-to-be-quilted pile just keeps growing!

We have been planning a trip to vacation with our oldest son and his family. We will once again meet them in Virginia for a week. We decided to travel a somewhat different path and will see some new sights. I think the month-long trip is all set. 

A couple of shorter trips coming up in the summer and fall are still in the planning stages. 

We have been enjoying some of grandson M's high school baseball games. Tonight the weather was warmer! The other two grandsons that live fairly close, are playing youth soccer so we will soon be watching some of their games too.

I think both of us are improving health-wise but it sure seems slow. At least we are moving forward...

One more finish for March!

Another chunky quilt is done - the Chunky Brown Quilt. This is really a variation as it has two wide rows followed by a narrower row which continually repeats before ending with two wide rows.  

I was going to make a quilt with various colored batik scraps but when I saw that I had so many brown pieces, I decided to go with all brown batiks and to use the narrower widths too. We may keep this quilt; it goes nicely with our furniture. The size, 60" by 80", is good for reading and/or napping on the couch.

I quilted it with a double loop using 40-wt Glide thread #20464 Medium Brown thread. 

The back is a medium brown with darker brown flecks.

Now it's time I get real serious about a graduation quilt that I need for later this spring...

Another Retreat Finish

I finished one other quilt at the retreat. This 48" by 54" quilt is for a special little guy. 

The center has roads with firetrucks and I think little cars could drive those same roads.

The sides have cars, trucks, school buses, campers, emergency vehicles,...

The backing is airplanes. I free-motion quilted this with a large meander using 40-wt Glide #10877 Sterling thread on the front and #70187 Ruby on the back.

I worked on a couple other projects at the retreat also. 

I am making quarter square triangles in bright colors. This is an ongoing, fun project.

I enjoy the improv when making these - anything goes. Fifteen blocks are done; I think I need around fifty. This will end up as an I-spy donation quilt.

I finished piecing the Pink Chunky Quilt. Yes, I'm still trying to use up my many scraps.

Today is Thursday - I think that means it's time for a storm since we have a storm almost every Thursday lately. Looks like the rain will begin soon and change to snow overnight. Sounds like a good day for quilting!

Time goes on ...

I'm not sure where the time goes and most days fly by.

Among other things, I've been busy quilting,

A donation quilt

doing a little shopping for a special quilt,

We are expecting a great niece and great nephew.
The adoption of the 8 year old and 5 year old should be soon.

delivering quilts to the Ronald McDonald House in Madison, WI (the Children's Hospital is not taking quilts at the time),

They would only take up to 20 due to space limitations.
I took 19.

spending a little road time with Ray, my favorite photographer,

enjoying out of town friends,

With the oldest daughter living a little over an hour away now,
we hope to see all of them more often.

relaxing at a snowy retreat with friends,

and seeing the last hockey games of the season for three of our grandsons. This 3-on-3 tournament, ended with a championship!

DS2 is the coach and GS2 is next to his dad.

The quilt retreat was this past weekend. We arrived on Thursday morning before the snow began so we were able to enjoy the snow and watching someone else deal with it while we visited, quilted, ate, and enjoyed ourselves.

I did finish The Chunky Turquoise quilt at the retreat. It is 58" by 64".

This donation quilt is quilted with 40 wt Glide #10877 Sterling (gray) thread. I free-motioned lazy eights on the first two rows, horizontal stippling on the next two rows, and continued in this way ending with two rows of lazy eights.

The backing is a tone-on-tone coral, a color seen on the front in a few blocks.

It's taking me some time to recover from the weekend; guess I overdid a little. I have more stamina than I did and it is slowly improving. I'll rest for a couple days and then all should be okay. I'm hoping to sew tomorrow.

Blogger problems resolved!

 Blogger problems resolved!

I finally figured out the problem. I'm not sure why settings on my MacBook changed because I deleted cookies but they did. I've been methodically researching and trying things and then today I was going to use online banking and couldn't. I then, knew exactly what the problem was (I've encountered this before): in Safari (my browser), under Settings, Privacy, "Prevent cross site tracking" cannot be checked. Glad that's resolved!

The Argyle Sweater by Scott Hilburn for August 04, 2011 | GoComics.com; Opens a new tab

Blogger problems

Two days ago I decided to delete the cookies on my MacBook. And now I cannot comment on any blog posts. I have researched, followed suggestions, and nothing changes. I will continue looking for the problem but for the time being, I will not be leaving any comments. 

A finish, a new griddle, and more

I saw the Missouri Star Quilt Company Disappearing Half-Square Triangle Nightfall Quilt tutorial and decided to make that quilt.

I bought a coral print ombre fabric at Sew Complete in Eau Claire, WI, last fall and decided to use that with various grays that were in my stash from the same trip and before. I arranged the blocks going from dark (upper left) to light (lower right).

The backing is a gray with circles that I found at Lolly's in Shipshewana, IN, last summer.

I free motion quilted this on the long arm with a meander stitch using Glide 40-wt #10877 Sterling Gray thread on the top and Glide 40-wt #10430 Battleship Gray thread on the back. 

This donation quilt is 57" by 68". It was fun to make and went together quickly.

There are 3 quilt designs in my head that I haven't quite put together yet. Hopefully soon. In the meantime, this quilt is on the design wall. The white background squares are Stargazer from MSQC. The blue squares are my addition.

When I last wrote, I was excited about the new kitchen appliances coming. The refrigerator caused all kinds of drama-- it's too tall... I ordered the right size... phone call.. it is the right height in back so it will fit... old one out...new one in...oops the doors won't open like they should...new one out... old one back in. So we have a new dishwasher and we still have our old refrigerator. Thank goodness it is still working and I hope it continues to run until we find a new one. We have to have a 33" with the doors opening level to the sides - which one can't find right now because they are only making 36". Eventually all things should return to more or less normal so we'll have to wait...

And the real excitement in the kitchen is our new Teppanyaki Griddle. Here it is on our gas stove right after we seasoned it. We did bubble the panel on the back of our stove from excessive heat when we were seasoning it. It's just the panel cover that bubbled a bit; everything still works fine. 

Here is one recent meal - smash burgers, buns, grilled onions, zucchini, and potatoes.

It's fun to cook on and easy to clean. We have a long list of things we want to try on it. Bon Appétit!