20 in 25!

 I shouldn't brag, but, well, I'm gonna.  I have quilted 20 things in 25 days!!!!

This was on the longarm during my last post...........

This is my mom's quilt.  I don't usually post other people's quilts, but it's my mom, so it's ok.  She has 2 books called 3 yard quilts.  I gifted her one when I saw how much she liked the first one she bought.  Now 3 one-yard cuts of fabric doesn't make a very big quilt, but there are cutting directions for larger sizes, if you had 3 two-yard cuts, or 3 four-yard cuts.  Then she had me go through her stash and pick 3 pieces of fabric that would look good together and she simply picks a pattern and makes a quilt.  (Actually, she has made 8 of these patterns so far.)  This one featured lady bug fabric, so I remembered that I had a new ladybug quilt pattern and my sewing room was soon infested!  DON'T call the exterminator!

And here is the finished (almost - Mom has to do the binding) quilt.  

And a closeup of the ladybugs!

I used a bright yellow thread that really showed up well on the back.

(Pardon the shadow photo bomber!)

So that was #19 and here is #20........another of Mom's.

My sister-in-law had gifted Mom some sunflower fabric, so she made this quilt.  I also have 5 new floral/leaf quilting designs that I have been using in Mom's quilts and she loves them.  This one was quilted in gold to match the sunflowers.

And that was #20 in 25 days.  Lucey the longarm has been cleaned and serviced and has a new needle, but has been promised a little rest even though she knows there are still 5 quilts in the TBQ closet.  Those are just my quilts, so there's no rush.  (Lucey's servant (me) wants you to know that she did receive regular oiling, cleaning, and needles during the quilting marathon.)

In other sewing room news, there are still no kittens.  But, we are starting to measure things, sorta like the snow fall!

And I tried a new project cuz one can never have too many new projects.  I have been wanting one of these for quite awhile.  They are heat resistant travel carriers for curling irons and straighteners.  I decided to practice on some fabric I don't care about first (Iowa Hawkeye)  and am now going to make mine from Chiefs fabric.

I'm getting a slow start to the morning.  David has already picked me 2.5 quarts of black raspberries.  It's basically a cleaning day.  Tomorrow we are headed to the Kansas City Regional Quilt Show that happens every 2 years.  Maybe I'll have some more quilt photos to share!

Christi

Quilting Marathon

Well, first let me pick up where the last blog left off.............kabobs for supper!  David did an excellent job on the grill.

And another UFO is finished!  I finally got the binding done on Sarah's college t-shirt quilt.  I think it turned out well.  I'm hoping she forgets for awhile that she still has a tub of shirts from high school.

Now for the quilting marathon...............since I returned from vacation with Sarah, I have quilted 18 things.  Number 19 is on the longarm today.  This is day 24 of the quilting marathon.  Most of these were for other people, with only 3 being mine.  Three were placemats, two were baby quilts, but the rest were QUILTS!

And on the piecing side of things, I finished this cutey!  Waddles!  

Is this just the cutest ever?  When I saw the pattern on Sew Sweet's live shopping, I showed it to David.  He said I might as well get the pattern and make it because that was the only duck I was ever gonna get.  Of course, I had cut this to take to our upcoming retreat on the 20th, so had to cut a couple more things just in case I ran out of things to work on at retreat!  As if!

In between the quilting (which has only happened when we weren't having thunder storms) the black raspberries have been yielding a quart or more a day.  They don't seem to need much sunshine to ripen.  We've also picked cherries twice (no photos, I'm just too sticky at that point to touch a phone).  There is still another tree to go which David predicts has 5 gallon on it.

My mom has told me that these would make a great syrup.  I think she's hoping some will make it to her house.  I already have a gallon bag of them in the freezer, so maybe some syrup will happen.

And Mabel is still pregnant.  She looks like she has swallowed a barrel.  With all the time in the sewing room, she and Esme have cleaned me out of treats.  They were so pleased I made a trip to Walmart to restock.

And Mabel is officially too big to open the cabinet door over her belly anymore.

She can clearly sleep anywhere.

Christi
 

Nothing New

 Ok, I titled this nothing new, but this is new...........Mabel is trying to hold up the living room wall all by herself...............or she's still pregnant and is trying to get comfortable somehow.

But seriously, there's not much new to share.........that is the only photo I have.  It's raining today and will probably be raining all day.  I'm still working on the binding for Sarah's t-shirt quilt.  Sewing room activity yesterday was trimming backings for quilts.  Of course, this morning I saw a really cute idea on Pinterest so drug out lots of fabric scraps to cut for a new patriotic table runner.  That's as far as I got on that project.  Oh, and I took in another quilt to be quilted yesterday, so brings it back up to 8.  Hoping to cut for the new project and cut some batting this afternoon.  Having kabobs on the grill for lunch!

Christi

June!

Strawberry season continued into the sewing room.  I made these cute little coasters while the longarm was running.  Everything was totally just little scraps of things I had. 

There are a couple more "fully finished quilts".  This first one is called Cozy Plaid.  I don't think it looks that much like plaid, but it's cute and it's FINISHED!

And this one is finally finished.  I think I kept putting it off because I wanted to custom quilt it.  It's an Elizabeth Hartman pattern called Greenhouse.  This is going to Sarah's house.  I made it for the wall behind her table in the kitchen.  The wall is the same color as the pots in the wall hanging.  It's plants she can't kill!  

Lots more things have been quilted, but most were for other people.  I still have more to do, but the TBQ closet is down to 7.  I am working on the binding of Sarah's college t-shirt quilt.  That one was on my UFO list, so I'll get to check another one off when it's complete.

And the pet update..............Friday has learned to like pigs.  He gets to go bark at them every morning.

Cici is holding down the fort in the bay window seat.  It's a great place to survey the kingdom.

Mabel is still pregnant.  The rug in front of the kitchen sink has been a favorite place to snooze, or she just simply can't make it any further.

I guess she's trying different ways to get comfortable.  I was slightly concerned that she might be stuck there, but when the feeder went off, she rolled out and made it to get a snack.

Her other favorite place is the table.  We're really hoping she doesn't have kittens here.

Esme's favorite place is still the sewing room and the cutting mat in particular.  We have been working with a new shedding comb to help get rid of the excess hair (I know that is a rotary cutter on the mat behind her, but I wouldn't waste a good rotary blade on cat hair.)

Willow is still hanging out on the deck (or inside if there is lightning).  She just didn't get any photos taken this week.

Christi

Signs of the Times

Here is a photo of the new fencing and Century Farm sign that we did for my inlaws for Mother's Day and Father's Day.  I had been meaning to snap a photo, and finally did today after Willow and I took the stampede down with the weed eater and weed killer to trim everything out.

Willow and Friday were exhausted after an early morning adventure to somewhere that had lots of those little green sticky balls.  When they arrived back home, they actually looked green they had picked up so many of them.  David did the first brushing and the I spent over an hour this afternoon brushing and picking them out again.  I even used the leaf blower to blow them off the deck there were so many.

I have discovered Esme's newest hiding place..............under the quilt in Sarah's bed.  I took the sheets and pillow cases off and washed them and then stored them in her closet so they would be clean when she comes home again.  In the meantime, I put an old sheet and pillowcases on the bed for Esme to use.  I think she hides from Cici here.  I have never known her to want to be UNDER a quilt, but apparently this makes a nice hiding spot.

And Mabel continues to look plumper every day.  She can still shimmy down the tree branches and through the rails of the deck, but I don't know how much longer that will be the case.

I did finish setting the leaves together and it makes a nice sized quilt for my bed.  Counting this one, there are 11 quilts in the TBQ closet.  I quilted a small wall hanging for Sarah yesterday, but didn't even get into the sewing room today.  

I had to do something with the rest of the strawberries so made another batch of jam and a strawberry pie which David was delivering to his aunt and uncle.  One box of strawberries made it into the freezer.

I also swept and mopped all the floors, so hopefully I can spend a good portion of the day in the sewing room tomorrow.  I'm hoping to quilt Sarah's t-shirt quilt.

Well, it's been a long day.  I'm looking forward to more sewing time tomorrow.

Christi

 

Cats and Quilting

 As I said at the end of the last post, there were 8 things in the TBQ closet when I returned home from the beach.  I quilted 5 last week, but somehow, there are now 9 things in the TBQ closet.  I quilted the turtle quilt which Sarah is gifting for a baby coming in June.

A close up so you can see the turtles in the quilting.

Sarah and Aaron picked this plush backing which really shows off the quilting.

I also quilted another quilt for myself, but don't have the binding on it yet, and I did a turtle placemat for our guild charity project.  The other 2 things I quilted were for my mom and they were delivered over the weekend.  And, she gave me three more quilts to quilt.  I also got the basketball quilts set together and they are ready for quilting, and a lady at church handed me a quilt to quilt on Sunday, so the closet is still full at 9.  While the longarm was running, I did all the pieced backings I needed and I have cut all the battings, so let the quilting commence!  The scary thing is that I opened the last big roll of batting that I have in the closet and am using from it.  I haven't been this low on batting in awhile.  A trip to Marshall Dry Goods in Arkansas to restock will be happening this summer, sooner rather than later.

I missed the May guild meeting while I was at the beach, but did get the instructions for the block lotto blocks coming up.

This one is for the July meeting.  It's supposed to give the feel of sparklers or fireworks I think.  I wasn't too excited about this one until I made it.  It turned out much better than I thought and it wasn't difficult.

We don't have a meeting in June, but we are having a two day retreat and there will be a block lotto for that.  The theme is berries so we are making strawberry blocks.  One of my berries is a little riper than the other.  These weren't difficult, but there was more work than you would think.

And speaking of strawberries.............

I bought some from the Amish when I was at my parents house this weekend.  I made some jam and

a strawberry pie for David.  Well, I actually made 2 pies and he took one to his parents.

 

I still have 3 quarts of berries left to do something with.

Upon returning from my trip, I was so happy to see my pets (and they were happy to see me).  Willow was dirtier and needed brushing, Friday was bigger, Esme was matted and needed brushing (and finally just got a bath yesterday), and Mabel seemed fluffier.  Well, it turns out that Mabel is pregnant.

And growing kittens is exhausting.

She even had to lay down to eat.

She did assist me in cutting the fabric I purchased on my trip for another quilt, but she was still laying down and almost asleep.

I also started repurposing an old quilt that had some holes in it.  Part of it became this Mondo bag.  I gave it to my mom.

And here's a little fun I found on the bathroom wall in a restaurant I stopped at with my cousins this past weekend.  

Nice word list don't you think?!

Christi

Beach Vacation

 Our vacation to Long Beach, Mississippi was wonderful.  We left on Mother's Day after attending Sarah's church together.

We spent the first night in Grenada, Mississippi in what is definitely the worst hotel I have ever been in.  We didn't let our bare feet touch the floor the whole time.  Showers had to be quick because the water didn't drain, and the only way I could get the TV off was to unplug it from the wall - and these were just a few of the issues.  It also thunderstormed that night.

The next day we rolled into Gulf Port and had lunch at a Whataburger since it's Patrick Mahomes' favorite burger and we'd never been to one before.

We arrived at our hotel well before check in, but they let is in early and we promptly unloaded and headed to the beach just across the road.

Sarah really enjoyed playing in the sand.

This is the view of the homes next to our hotel from the beach.

That evening we walked down the beach to Steve's Marina Restaurant and I had seafood!

The next morning we visited the Mississippi Aquarium.  We saw everything there was to see and enjoyed touching the rays, watching them feed the alligators, and the dolphin show.

We left the aquarium in the early afternoon and found a QUILT SHOP!  I didn't take any photos, but did pick up a couple of pieces of fabric for a quilt I am working on.

Then we drove through The University of Southern Mississippi campus (as Sarah said, can you imagine going to college practically right on the beach!) and stopped to see the Friendship Oak, a live oak that is over 500 years old.

It was difficult to capture the whole tree in one photo, but it was huge and the limbs went into the ground and then back out again.

Then we went back to the beach.

I read five books and this was definitely the best one!

Our hotel was amazing.  Breakfast every morning offered a wide variety of foods and I was loving the fresh fruit.  They did made to order flavored pancakes and Sarah had chocolate chip pancakes every day.  I also discovered the fresh squeezed orange juice machine and had a glass every morning.

We went to the beach in the morning on our last full day there.  Sarah wanted to be there at different times to check out the tidal changes.  That afternoon we drove over the 2 mile bridge to Bay St. Louis and had a late lunch and explored the down town renovated area that had antique stores, gift shops, and flea markets.  We met Handsome, the local cat in one of the stores.  The Flirty Girl shop was our favorite and it also wins Best Bathroom Award for the trip.  No photos, but it was delightful.  We also walked around the marina that evening and went on a dolphin watching cruise - yes, we saw lots of dolphins, including a baby!

We headed back on Thursday and made several stops as we traveled north.  It took 3 stops at fish stands before I could buy gulf shrimp WITHOUT the heads still on them.  We also stopped at the Pecan House and got some treats for David (I think he likes the shrimp best).  And we stopped at produce markets and brought back watermelon, peaches, and a mater.  Even with all the stops, we were making really good time and ended up getting all the way back to Sarah's house by 8 that evening and I headed back home the next day.

I'll do a quilting catch up in another post.  When I left for the beach there were 8 things hanging in my closet to be quilted.  I quilted five things last week, but now there are 9 things hanging in my closet to quilt!  This math is not adding up.

Christi