Saints Stars

I took the quilt to the bowling lanes to show Steven. He loved the quilt and did not see the error but several others did including the quilters who were there. So I have decided to embroidery new squares and replace them some way or the other. I just can't leave it the way it is! 
My DD#3 asked me to do some embroidery for her to give as Christmas gifts. So while I have the machine set up for that, I can make the replacement squares. I will also finish making the borders for the Saints Stars and get the binding ready too. That way I can get it finished by next Monday.
I will be making pillowcases after I get that ready. Christmas is coming!
I spent the day with DH. I actually cooked a big pot of Potato, Egg, & Meatball stew but first we had to go to WalMart and buy some pots. My Stepson borrowed my cooking pot and skillet two weeks ago and never returned them. No harm done - I got two new pots!!! Then DD#3 called and wanted the embroidery today instead of the planned Wednesday afternoon...children think their parents should drop everything to tend to their wants even as adults. So after supper I did the gift shirt and gave it to her. Then I came home and did hers. I will bring it to her tomorrow when I am out and about...after all it is only 50 miles out of my way. LOL.
Tomorrow my plans are to sew 3 more border strips before driving to deliver my daughter's shirt to her school and then drive to my DD#1 & 4's work and pick up my Secret Sister quilt. After that I need to go to BQ and purchase some more black thread so I can finish Saint Stars. Then home for homework duty and more sewing. A very full day as usual. Won't be able to take my sleeping meds tonight since when I do I sleep until 9am without them I am up at 5am.
Lator Gators. I am off to bed to snuggle under warm covers with my DH. Have a blessed week!

Design Wall

My design wall has the borders for the Saints Stars and blocks from my daughter's graduation quilt (Dec.18th.) (One project that won't get finished on time! I think it will need to be bigger than the planned 42" by 42".) There are pairs of fabrics for pillowcases/ potato bags/ potholders all from my stash. Some wild pillowcases for  wild grandchildren and distinctive items for DDs.
I think that Saint Stars needs a 4" border to stop the center and then it will be ready to bind. I am planning a 1 1/2" strip of the gold and then a 2 1/2 inch strip of the black with binding in gold. If the young man doesn't like it, I do know, that it makes for lovely naps b/c not too heavy and not too hot and an ex-son-in-law might buy it from me if current son-in-law doesn't claim it first. LOL
I am working on sewing bindings when I am not sewing. "Witch Doctor says Jungle Love" is in the binding process and should be finished by Christmas as well as DD#1's quilt and the 4 charity quilts for the guild. Guess I will have to force myself to sit and watch tv...oh, wait, Pape has bowling this weekend so I will have a full day to sew bindings by hand while waiting for him to finish.
Leeapaul has been very loving today...either he is feeling bad or he is cold. Either way I am worried about him.
Lator Gators. Have a blessed week!

Saints Quilt Process 2

I was trying to finish this quilt. My DGD has taken over my guest room while on break from college and my DH was sleeping. So I laid out the quilt on my sewing table and placed the next 5 blocks, sewed & quilted them. DH woke up so I went put Saint Stars on my bed and found I had sewn the blocks wrong. They were to slant to the right but slanted to the left. There is nothing I can do about it since I don't have enough fabric to redo the blocks. DH says that only I will know that it was an error. DD#4 said the same thing. It glares at me! I will finish the quilt and give it to the young man but I am now sadden when I work on it. Hopefully I will finish today or tomorrow and then will post picture.
Well, Lator Gators. Have a blessed day.

Stash Report Sunday week 38?

Stash Report:
Used this week:        .5 yards given to guild member
Added this week:  -4  yards from workshop kit by Charlotte Angotti
YTD Used:           97.75 yards
YTD Added:      -163.0 yards
YTD Enhanced: -65.25 yards


I don't seem to be going in the right direction but I sure had fun with that workshop kit. It goes so well with the blocks I made at her last workshop...different pattern but same feel.
Next week should be better since I have 2 birthday presents to give to Sammie which involve fabric.  I won't be here for her b-day and we are both bummed about that. My g-son is graduating from Marine Boot Camp on October 8th and I will be there to see the changes. We have been told by several people that this is worth seeing so we are packing up the camper and off we go to the wilds of SC. LOL
In the meantime, I have lots of quilting to do on Saints' Stars and my dresden plates.  Tomorrow I will be working on lotto blocks for 2 guilds, a graduation quilt, my workshop quilt, and the binding on my daughter's saints quilt.  Lots to accomplish while my husband is bowling 9 games from 9am to 7pm. Let me say again how much I love my RV for this reason.  It is perfect to go and just chill.
Then on Monday, I will be the gofer for the workshop and then bowling so I probably won't have a design wall post but I am still working on my same two projects. Tuesday is guild meeting and lecture by Charlotte Angotti. 
Lator Gators. I am off ! Have a blessed week.

Saints Quilt Process

HELP!!!! I am stuck. I think I need to add small fleurs to corners of New Orleans & Saints. I also think that a larger Louisiana like in the center would be nice on either side of WHO DAT NATION!. Or should it be the other way round?

Should I echo quilt those blocks or use straight lines or should I use the players' names to quilt it? So many ideas in my head but I don't want to ruin this quilt. I like it alot. Please let me know your opinion.

Lator Gators.

Design Wall & Stash Report Combo

Stash Report:

I still haven't put Office on my new computer and am too lazy to get out the tablet. I bought several Halloween fat quarters this week and 3 yards of Kona black for the saints quilt. So I ADDED about 4 1/2 yards of fabric. Since I don't count fabric until the quilt is done, zero in the USED column. I am just exchanging fabrics.

Design Wall:

I am still working on my Dresden plate and my Saints Stars quilt. I laid out the saints quilt and it looks just like the EQ7 picture. I showed this in my last Finishing Friday post if you would like to see the progress. I am experiencing technical difficulties with my BabyLocks...both machines are acting the fool. I know I know...I am the fool but I would rather blame them.

This weekend I worked on my second daughter's graduation quilt while waiting for my husband to finish bowling...this is exactly why I bought my mobile home(RV). My only problem is that I got adopted by a preteen with a cell phone fetish. Those who know me know that was not fun for me but I was polite and let her iron and trim blocks while she talked my ear off. I will probably have to re-iron all those blocks but I got 12 of 26 blocks done. I only work on this quilt when I am camping so it will sit and wait for a while. Our next trip is in October to see my grandson graduate from marine boot camp.

Well, I am off to sew on swap blocks for the two guilds I belong to. Lator, Gators.

Finishing Friday

I think that the word "Finishing" is not in my quilting vocabulary yet. I know what the word "Starting" means and what "Working" means. But 'finishing' is not something I do very often. (sigh)

I laid out my Saints quilt and surprise surprise surprise, it actually looks like the EQ7 drawing and the picture in my head. So I can start planning the embroidery in the black spaces. WHOO HOO! (Note to self: Next time you use black fabric buy black batting, dummy!)

Well, gators, I am off to start putting my squares together and do the next phase. Wish me luck b/c it is the first time I have free motion quilted on the BabyLock and I haven't done any free motion in about 2 years. This will be interesting. I think straight lines is the way to go. I only have to redo 1 square - I just could not put the score down showing that the Saints lost by that much so I reversed the scores. LOL.

Today will be a on-the-go day since Pape has to get a suit for a funeral tomorrow. It seems that the clothes fairy came in and shrunk all 25 suits in the closet(no, I am not joking. He has that many suits. At one time the man was a clothes hound). So we have to go buy another one that actually fits. If this doesn't get him to start watching his diet, then nothing will b/c he hates to spend money on things he doesn't use that often and he doesn't dress up much any more.

Lator gators~ to Dee, after while... Have a blessed weekend.

WIP Wednesday -Saints Quilt Process 2

I took the big BabyLock in for a check up and found out that I have been doing it all wrong for the last year due to lack of training and not reading the manual which is 2" thick. I thought that was what you went to training for! I will sit down and read the manual for the second time and then see if my girl wants to work for me. If she doesn't then she is off to the doctor again.

I have finished all the embroider for phase 3 and will now begin to put the stars together in sections and quilt each section with straight lines. What other embroidery and quilting to be done is not decided yet. That I will decide when I get there. I will be practicing free motion on the cats quilt.

My daughter's bday is Friday and her present is for her to come and pick up the Phaff Grand Quilter and its frame. It takes up too much room and I haven't used it for quite some time. She will use it either on the frame or off. She quilts on a very small domestic machine so the Phaff will definitely give her more quilting room. She has wanted that set-up for quite some time so off it goes as B-day and Christmas -new to her and I get my hand quilting frame back.

Sounds like I am being such a good mom - HA!- now she will be able to quilt all my tops!!! I think it is a good trade off - we both make tops- I make the labels - she quilts them - I bind them. We both get more piecing done and are doing what we each like to do! Fun Fun fun!

Lator gators, Have a blessed day and I will see you on Sunday.

Stash Report Sunday

Stash Report:

Fabric out this week: 0000

Fabric in this week: 2 1/4 yards of pink & brown floral for wedding quilt.

I still don't have my new computer loaded with excel so I don't have the correct numbers for this report. I am in the RED! That goes without saying since I only count finishes as fabric used and I haven't finished anything in a long time. That said I am working on finishing 3 quilts and 3 bags all at the same time. My friend says that I work on too many projects at one time. She just may be right! I started buying the fabric for my niece's wedding quilt. She requested pink & brown so I have to buy fabric since I do not have pink in my stash. The pattern is picked and I will start slowly buying pinks (ugh) and browns for the quilt. I will start it after the first of the year. She has been warned that it would not be ready for her wedding (12/31)...I have 2 graduation quilts, a secret sister quilt, and a Saints quilt to finish first.

(I have finished all the regular games...next comes the last post-season games. This phase is almost done. )

Lator Gators! Have a blessed Sunday. See you tomorrow.

WIP Wednesday

I finished all 3 presentations and didn't have a heart attack. I was complimented on the information presented and the entertaining way I presented it. People from the Tuesday morning meeting even went home and told others that it was worth going to the night meeting to hear. One person even told me that they had expected me to give a very boring quiet dull lecture about labeling based on what they saw of my personality at the meetings, but instead got a action filled, entertaining, information packed, any thing but dull and quiet. She doesn't know it but she made my day and made all the research and preparation worth the effort.

It is a funny thing. I know that I am trained to speak since I am an accomplished Toastmaster with lots of awards to prove it and a 25 year veteran teacher of teenagers. But everytime I have to prepare and give a presentation, my head hurts, my stomach knots up, and I start doubting if I can present the information correctly for the audience.

I really become someone else when I am speaking and then go back to being me at the end of the speech. Maybe I should adopt a costume to wear when I speak. "Blanch the quiltgillor" mmmmm Then I won't be the one getting so nervous just the one researching, writing, and preparing. She would be the one who did the speaking. I really have to develop this idea since I would love to do more presentations on certain aspects of quilting.

I got to sew on my saints stars today....I didn't finish any stars since we had to go places and I had homework duty. But I have 6 almost finished and the flying geese made for 6 more. It should go faster Friday since I can finished 2 blocks and embroidery them while I construct the other 8 I will need.

I think I will use old dryer sheets to turn the circle centers of the dresden plates. Can't hurt to try!!!

I have a very busy Thursday planned and will need an early start to get everything done. From Doctor's appt. for Pape , trip to Spirit's doctor, trip to BR to pick up Kristin, (Pape will help her get paper work for her car), shortened homework duty, then trip back to BR to bring Kristin back, trip home, and racing if not too tired.

Well, lator gators! Have a blessed Thursday and a grand Weekend. See you on Sunday for Stash Report and Monday for Design Wall. I hope to have lots to show.

Design Wall & Stash Report Combo

I bought a new computer last week so as of this moment it does not have a word process on it so I do not know the previous numbers for my stash report.
Installation of programs will come after Tuesday probably Saturday.

Stash Report:

Added this week: 6 yards for the saints quilt

2 yards of fat quarters with veggie prints

1/4 yard of Halloween fat quarter.

Total this week: 8 1/4 yards

Used this week: 2 yards of black - squares of saints quilt

1 yard of black & gold - star points

3 yards of muslin for presentation sussies

Total this week: 6 yards

Net this week: -2 1/4 yards but I am working.

This past week I worked on my presentations and got thru the first one. With a few computer

problems, it went well. I found out where I needed to improve and what to add to provide more information. The guild members and the guests all loved the sussie I gave them to color. LOL

The hardest part of getting ready for these presentations is preparing the fabric for printing. Cutting the freezer paper, ironing the muslin, cutting muslin to size, and ironing freezer paper to the muslin was very time consuming. I got the 20 witches printed and the 210 mojoes printed

and learned lots about using Bubble Jet solution.LOL Tomorrow is the next presentation - the big one! Honestly, I have butterflies by the thousands fluttering in my bowels.

Other than the presentation, I have been working on my Saint's

quilt. I have embroidered the first 6 game scores and the center with batting on the back of each square. I intend to put the quilt together using a quilt-as-you-go method where there is different quilting on the back than the front. Hopefully it will work.

I finished the first part of the hand work on the dresden plates. Now I have to hand sew circles, arcs, and pacman symbols. All in all that is going well too.

Well off I go to set up old computer to print for presentation tomorrow. Hopefully, I won't have a

heart attack before the day is over. It will feel so good to get back to sewing especially since I am so close to actually quilting on two quilts..

Lator Gators. Have a blessed week. Check back tomorrow for up dates & pictures of me passing out.

WIP Wednesday -Saints Quilt Process

Phase I: An Idea: First I drew a sketch out on a napkin. Then I went into EQ7 and made several designs. I chose one with stars I liked but was told that there were 16 games not 14 so I went back and redesigned the quilt. I like this version even better.Phase II:

Mock-up:

I bought fabric

that I thought would be great in a saints quilt. I put them together in the star formation to make the quilt. I had picked using

the No Waste method for flying geese. I picked thread color and embroidered the designs I wanted. Thank heavens for my DD #1 and the man in Houma b/c without them it would have taken months. I found that the mock-up looked too washed out but it was what I wanted. So I picked new fabrics

Phase III:

Making the blocks: I wanted to use a black with tiny gold dots but needed 4 yards. My LQS was out of that fabric so I choose solid black for the inside and a black swirl for the points. I have decided to make a set of 4 and then embroider them.

I am in the process of making blocks and embroidering each of the smaller blocks - 16. I am

using a quilt as you go method that allows more quilting on the top than on the backing b/c it

allows me to hide the back of my embroider.

Phase IV:

Putting sections together and quilting. I

plan on adding triangles which will have info about the Saints in them along the edges The black will have New Orleans Saints and Who Dat Nation with lots of fleurs.

Phase V: Binding will be the gold.

lator Gators. have a blessed week

Time to Start - Process

Well, tonight Steven gave the go ahead to make his quilt. There were only 2 minor problems: 1) He thought the quilt was very small not as large as it is. I told him that the center was 28 inches by itself, he was satisfied. 2) He wanted to have it by September 9th when they raise the flag in New Orleans as his personal flag. I had to explain to him that while it would probably go fast that I had 2 other quilts to do as I worked on his.

So the plan is to use the quilt-as-you-go method that uses top and batting and washable stabilizer on the first quilting and then adds the backing with simpler quilting as a second step. The embroider will be the first quilting....I plan on using the designs I was given in Houma. Fantastic designs for this quilt. Then the second quilting will be straight lines.

Since I am doing it all on the Babylocks, it should go rather quickly if life doesn't interfere. I plan on bringing it to bowling each week to show him the progress. It should get other people to want one and give him more understanding about how much work it is. It should be done by the end of October if I do at least 3 blocks a week which is do-able.

I plan on continuing my handsewing while the big BabyLock does the designs for the saints and then sewing on the small BabyLock while the big one does the quilting in the center of the dresden plates. It is a plan but will I be able to execute it...I will find out.

Lator, Gators. Have a blessed week until I type at you again.

Working Wednesday

EQ7 and my printer finally got together and printed me a copy of my final design. I then went to work making a mock up of what my center would be. The points of the star do not stick like I want them to and the colors do not really match. But all I wanted to see is how the embroider would work with the pattern. I need to go get some more of my center fabric which will be black with gold dots since it will also be the background or that may be the center and same background as shown. I am still experimenting with fabric placement. This center is 32" square and the squares will be 16" square but I think I am going to reduce the squares to 14" and the center to 28" or I might go 12" and 24". It depends on how big the center square needs to really be to fit everything I want in it. I think 14" will fit everything nicely.
Well lator gators. Let me know how you like the embroider. The outer stars will have the other games on them and the two side ones will have the playoff games. I thinking of putting New Orlean's Saints in the top black spots and WHO DAT! on the bottom. And possibly enlarging the champion thingy. I am still playing and designing.

OOPs

There were 19 games(16 regular and 3 playoffs) in 2009 Saints' season and my design only has 14 stars. That means I need to put 5 more. To do that I will either have to make one heck of a big quilt or make my squares smaller. Actually if I can get in 4 more, I will be alright since I can put the last game in the medalion. Back to the drawing board!
Lator Gators. Have a blessed week. I know I will b/c my oldest grandson is coming home from Japan for a while. I might even be honored with his presence and then again possibly he won't have time with all the people he wants to see.

Design Wall Monday

The red, yellow, black&white Dresden fan/plate quilt is still on my design wall. I am still hand sewing the blades to the background.
But on my computer is the design for a saint's quilt. It will be made of 16 inch blocks 18 of them. 14 will be star blocks with the scores of the 14 games in the centers and 4 will make up a center medallion star to showcase that they are the world champions of American football. I did it in EQ7 but still don't know how to add text or my fabrics. I am still learning! I will make the center medallion first ...it will be 32 inches square. This way I can work on 2 quilts at the same time...hand sewing while the Babylock embroiders the words. We shall see if I am successful.

Well, lator gators. I am off to start making 16 1/2 inch flying geese. Have a blessed week.