Design Wall Monday 11/15

Phew it has been a hectic few days, but with the Grace of God we have gotten through them.  My daughter had her baby early, 6 weeks early, so we were a little preoccupied with things other than quilting.  I did sit down last friday and start a quilt which I call a coverlet because a) it is only 2 layers - no batting, and b) it is to cover little Alan Vincent Stewart's layette unit to deflect the light in his corner of the NICU room.  Here is the quilt

The back is flannel and I clipped the edges as a one does a rag quilt in place of binding.  And here is a photo of Alan, our newest sweetie:

He's doing great for a preemie - breathing on his own and eating good.

Needless to say, I'll be happy if I get one shop hop block made this week as otherwise I will be busy.

Design Wall Monday 11/8

or back on track!  I've assembled the row, sandwiched it, and half quilted it.  Then i can added to the other two rows and I'll be 3/4ths done with the center of Em's ufo. 

See my fancy spool holder on left - LOL.
What's on your wall?  Go to Judy's posting to see what others are going to be doing this week.  And go to her newest post and see her great quilt block in the new Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks issue.

5 weeks 3 days to go

and she's looking it!

Happy to report she's doing well - so is baby.
Can hardly wait!

Stash Report 11/7

Well, I bought some - fabric that is - after so many weeks I succumbed to the sale at Jo-Ann's.  Picked up some cute baby fabric and a couple of panels.  This is what happens when you have a new DGB coming in just 6 weeks.  Now to get busy with it.

Used: 2 yard to make a charity quilt
Bought:  -13.25

Net for week  -11.25

Not good.  And how do I count 2 apron panels, 1 vest panel and 6 yds found at a yard sale that I brought home?

Probably not good either - LOL
AngieN

It's Done or Progress Report for this week

Okay it isn't Thursday, but I didn't have time to post it, so here is my Progress Thursday on Friday - LOL. On left here is the front                                                   On right here is the back and speaking of batting:

I used a piece of leftover batting which I now realize was a bit too stiff so a neonatal quilt, but the baby will soon have a quilted mat to play on. Oh well.

Phew, top made

and here it is.  Now to quilt it.

Down the tracks again

I went on a scouting trip for a future senior trip for our church - I know - a cushy job, but someone's got to do it. I left at 7am, voted, stopped by the post office, then headed for the train depot. Bought my ticket and waited for my friend, Torre.  At 8am promptly we boarded the train and waited for it to take off which it did at 8:15. At 8:50 we got off the train at Downtown Pomona, CA

and proceeded to check out their revitalized downtown that has an Antiques Row of stores (most closed on Tuesday, sigh) and an Art Colony (most opening at 11 - another sigh) but we walked down antiques row and found ourselves on the main drag of the Western University of Health Sciences and BOY has this campus grown.

The big surprise was the statues that looked like real people spread here and there along the walk. Sure would like to know how they were cast! For some of them, you had to get right next to them to see they weren't real people. Guys reading paper are statues. 

Then we headed for the American Museum of Ceramic Art. They currently have an exhibit of Mexican ceramic art for the Day of the Dead (Oct 31st). Wow! We got lucky - they don't open until 12, but the nice guy let us in early. After viewiing the permanent collection

and the exhibit we headed to La Merendera - a Mexican restaurant and bakery for an early lunch at 11:30. Yumm! We then walked off our lunch taking in some other shops and viewing all the Art Deco buildings in this town. Then back to the depot and home by 3pm. A good trip, but probably not for our seniors as it involves too much walking, but it would make a good volkswalk - LOL!

Got home and promptly took an hour nap - I was tired from all that walking in the sun - temps are back to normal - it was in the low 90s.

Design Wall Monday or

Stop the quilting, I have to piece a charity top!  LOL - yes, I got a kit at our guild workshop and have to make the top asap.  So here are the blocks:

They are made of flannel.  The directions said we don't have to worry about the corners matching.  That is good as the pieces has so much give in this material.  I've got 5 of the 9 done, so it shouldn't be long before I can get back to Em's ufo.  I did get the two sections joined.  and you can see them below.  I'm liking how this looks.

Left is the back with the sashing strip and

Right is the front and back and how it looks so far.

Happy Halloween!

I'm not much of a Halloween person, but I do like to see the various costumes people come up with, especially for the DGKs.  What do you think of Leo the Lobster?  Looks like he's not so sure about this pot thing - LOL

Of course I think he's darling with dad, DS Stephen - both in CO.

My entry in the Fall Blogger's Quilt Festival

Amy is at it again and providing us with the largest display of quilts on the Net and prizes too!  Above is my entry. I call it Bullseye Blossoms.  I took part in an online swap of bullseye blocks.  These are pieced with raw edges.  In making the bullseye, I had a lot of circles left over from cutting out the backs of the blocks. I saved these wondering what I would do with them.  When my blocks came back from the swap and I laid them out I realized I wanted a bigger quilt.  So I pulled out those circles and drew a flowering template and cut our the blossoms you see on the center.  The entire quilt is scrappy except for the borders which came from my stash.  I quilted it as a Quilt as You Go and really like how it turned out.

To see more quilts or enter your own, go to Amy's website to join the Blogger's Quilt Festival or just see some beautiful quilts!

Progress Not

Well, it's a good thing I made myself that progress button or else I'd never have gotten the 15 minutes of quilt time in this week so far.  It's been one of those weeks.  A way too busy Monday, an all day trip on tuesday and a recovery day on wednesday plus a William day, a two board meeting day Thursday with one presentation  plus a grandmother of all headaches ( I think it's sinus related) - so I made myself between meetings sew for 15 minutes.  Didn't even get to post this thrusday. 

Life!

Hope yours is going smoother and mellower.  Off to take a tylenol and lay down for a few minutes.

Angie

Design Wall Monday 10/25

Well, like others, I didn't get as much done as I wanted, but some progress was made.  In fact, to challenge myself (as if the Design Wall Monday wasn't enough), I put a button on my side bar to remind me that I had to show some progress by Thursdays.  So if you ever want to see what progress - if any- I've made in the week, just click on it and it will take you to the Thursday post.  Moving on to my wall - I almost got the second row of blocks finished - just need to quilt the third block and do the sashing and I can attach it to the finished first row.  Here I've placed them on my design wall - also known as cutting table - sort of how they'll look when attached by the sashing.

Have 2 more rows to go for the center and then will begin adding borders.

And here is a shot of my latest shop hop blocks - one is done and one isn't even started! LOL.

And to see other design wall, click on the Patchwork Times button on the right to see all the other design wall postings at Judy's blog.  Enjoy!!



Spot of sunshine and crumb block tip.

Have I told you it's been overcast here? Yesterday we had a break in the weather for about 10 minutes and the sun shone.  Here is what I saw out my kitchen window - one of the few spots I still have some color in the garden.  See that tiny black cloud in the sky?  Within five minutes another storm front had moved in.  It got gloomy again but no rain.  Same weather today.  On the quilting front, I made a crumb block for a demo on another list.  One thing I forgot to say in that post is that I use any bobbin partly filled with thread and any thread left over from projects when I'm making these guys.  You could say I use up my "scrap thread" that way - LOL.

Progress Report

To keep me going, here is a progress report for this week.  I've sandwiched and quilted that first row of three blocks on DD's ufo.  It is here on the right: 

I like this method of QAYG since it lets me quilt right up to the edge.  These are mostly done with stitch in the ditch quilting except for the first one.   And here is how it looks on the back.  I'm so glad that my DD picked a busy print for the back - makes my advanced beginner quilting mistakes disappear.   I always fret over what pattern to use for the quilting  - would love some suggestions for sampler quilts.  I've also started sashing the next row of three which you can see in the first picture.  Now I have to go do a mission or two, and then I'll let myself quilt a little more today in what is turning out to be a dreary looking day.  It's not giving us much rain, but it is cutting the fire hazard in the local mountains and for that I am grateful.

 

Design Wall 10/18

Here's my Design Wall this monday.  The three block strip with sashing in between is an ufo, but not my ufo. It's my daughter's. So when I finish it does it go on my ufo done list??? - LOL.  She is cleaning out her craft room to make it into a nursery for the little guy coming and found this bag, and she asked me to finish it.  What could I say to my 7 1/2 month preggie gal but yes.  It will be interesting to see how it shapes up.  This three block section is now ready to be quilted.  Yes, I am going to make it as a QAYG.  Below it is a couple of additional blocks for the shop hop quilt plus the reconstructed block to make it look less of a tree in the water - now maybe it looks like a tree with either the wind or a lake behind it.  Comments?  Here is a close-up:

You can see other design wall's at Judy Laquidara's Patchwork Times.  Look for the cute button on my side bar.

Itching to be

gardening!  This is the time when not much is blooming.  And with no rain, much of the ground is brown with dead stalks and weeds.  I'm itching to get out there and start preparing the soil for winter planting.  First I'd like to prepare an area for sweet peas.  DH has resurrected our tomato plants even though we still have fruit on the old ones.  Here is our latest crop from Monday and today I picked 4 more.  Of course the twelve from monday are gone.  These are grape Romas and are they tasty!

And here is my rescued Log Cabin

Before the sun set I was determined to take pictures.  Alas it will be in the mail tomorrow.  I forgot I had a 4 hour stint scheduled at the library this morning. This was an interesting project.  Once I got the blocks separated (sorry I forgot to take a before picture), I knew I had my work cut out for me.  But I so liked these chocolate, tan and red blocks.  I'm thinking this may have been made in the 80s - I don't really know - could have been China for all I know - LOL.  Upon examining them, I almost decided to get rid of them, they were so different.  But on second thought, I decided to put them back together as a quilt as you go with sashing.  I kept the worst 2 for parts and decided on a 9 square quilt center.  The previous version (which also was a quilt as you go) had no sashing.  But to some I would have to add the last round, piece batting and back.  Above is one such block.  Phew!  that took some doing - I must have repaired 5 of them - and some I had to take apart to redo the 1/4" seams.  Actually went faster than I expected.  So here you have the front: 

It turned out about 40" square.  There was nothing I liked in my stash that I could use for borders, so I did buy a yard.  It had to be flannel because that was the only fabric that had the color I needed for this quilt.  It looks darker than it really is.  It's more of a

chocolate color.  And this is the back:

I've got about a third of the sleeve sewn down.  This is going to be a wall hanging unless it's used as a table topper.  Lastly, here's a close up of the border and the quilting and you can see the true color:     



And the winner is

according to the Random.org number generator,
sallylynnsara@hotmail.com who said,

"These miniature quilts are too cute! These would make great Barbie quilts."

Send me an email Sally so I can send you your quilts.

Congrats,
Angie

Design Wall Monday 10/11

This is all that is left on my design wall.  I didn't meet my goal of 10/7, but it will go out today.  I'm tacking down the sleeve and then I'll pack it up for shipment.  Photos for sure before I mail it.  Life just got in the way last week and so it wasn't there on time, but sometimes late is nice too --extends the event. My goal is posting the quilt later today.  And here is the primary reason I didn't get to do this yesterday:

Now who could do anything but play with our princess?  Lily was over for the day and we had a great time.  She will be 6 months on saturday. Isn't she precious!

Fall Giveaway

Hi, I'm giving away two miniature quilts.  One on left measures 8" x 10 1/2" and the other on right is 9 1/2" x 10 3/4".  These are yours for following me and leaving a comment to that effect.  Please leave your email in your comment  - here's a sample - lvbfan(at)gmail(dot)com  These would make great doll quilts.  They are machine pieced and hand quilted, and hand bound.

The back shows the hand quilting.  You can comment or follow til Monday, October 10th.  I'll pick a winner on Tuesday, the 11th.  Good luck!

Design Wall Monday 10/4

Here it is monday again, and I had to clear my design wall of everything and start on a quilt I have to have done by 10/8!  Here's what I have to work with-- bought a bag of material at a yard sale and there was a remnant of a quilt in it made from these blocks.  Looked like the quilt was mangled by something or torn by a dog - so was able to salvage 11 blocks from it and they were pretty rough.

They were put together as quilt as you go blocks, but very oddly.  Some were cut to remove bulk at the seams (sigh).  They look like they started out as 10 1/2" blocks  maybe.  Well, off to work on them as I want to get done by 10/7 so I can ship off to a birthday girl.  Wish me luck!

PS:  Since I bought this bag 2 years ago this will be UFO #16?? Will have to go bakc and check.

Another Hop Block

Gosh, it's September and sprinkling outside??!  Despite the crazy weather, here is my latest block from the Hop.  I picked the background thinking it would look like wind in the sky.  My mom thought it was water.

What do you think?

What a difference a few weeks make:

I hope you can see the difference:  My baby, Emily,  was 5 months here:
and now she is 6 months here.  Please say a prayer for her or keep her in your thoughts.  DGS Will came 9 weeks early and no one knows why.  It's good that she already weighs more now than she did when she went into labor for Will.  I'm hoping that is a good sign.  They're having another boy.

Two new babies in the family in the same year! First precious Lily in April and now BB in Dec.  They haven't picked a name yet, however Conan and Vincent are on the list.

I'm going to be a busy grandma!

Design Wall Monday 9/27

There are new items on my design wall, but today is a vegetation day - because it is 110 outside again!  Yesterday it was 110 also. And I'm just sitting in the living room taking in the cool air until the sun sets and it begins to cool.  On the left is the first of my buzzsaw charm blocks.  On the right is another shop hop block.

This buzzsaw charm quilt was in a 91 QNM issue.  As it is scrappy, I'm going to make it.  The assembly of the blocks are interconnected, so I will have to make them in the order I'm going to have them - they can't be loose.  The owl is a little crazy what with all the busy material, but that was the fabric in the bag so here he is.  I have to zig-zag stitch him to the background and he will be done.  I may do that tonight before I pack up my machine to take it for it's annual service appointment.  I use my Bernina daily so it needs it.  What's on your design wall?  Visit Judy's blog and see her post for this week as well as others.  Always fun.

It's Done

A friend asked what that quilt I was binding looked like, so here it is on the right as I finished it this morning after Mass and photography session for the Parish directory.  It is double sided.  The binding is actually a little lighter than it looks in this picture.  This is the biggest quilt I have ever bound.  It is 91" x 97".  On left is the back:
                Here is the front:
 

And below is the label  - and no, it is not a sheet showing from under the quilt.  The back was just shy of being big enough for the quilt, so the quilter added a piece hoping it would be part of what is cut off (and some of it was) but this remained when I squared it up.  So my clever daughter, who is a whiz at calligraphy, is going to use the white section as the label and write all kinds of good stuff on it.

Oven Fried Eggplant

Here's another favorite of my DH.  His mom, Helen, could make these so well - never greasy, always perfect, but I never could get the knack of it.  Then I found this recipe in an issue of Sunset magazine way back in the early 80s, and as they say, the rest is history!  This is much better than making them with a pan full of oil.  All you use is a tablespoon of olive oil per 11x14 baking sheet. 

Oven Fried Eggplant

1 large or 2 medium eggplants  - the one in the picture was the largest we've ever found.  Peel it and if very large cut down the middle and slice into 1/4" slices.  If using the 2, slice into 1/4" circles.

1 cup of breadcrumbs

1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese.

2 teaspoons of Basil flakes

1 tsp garlic powder

salt

1 egg

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup flour

Get out three pie tins or baking square pans.  In one, mix the flour with about a 1/2 tsp of salt.  In the second pan, crack the egg and add the 1/3 cup of water and beat thoroughly til frothy.  In third pan, put the breadcrumbs, garlic powder, Parmesan cheese, Basil and another 1/2 tsp of salt.  Mix well.

Now dredge a slice of eggplant in the flour to coat both sides. Drop into the egg mixture.  Transfer to the breadcrumbs and coat evenly.  Set aside on a large platter as you do all the slices in this manner. 

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  In a baking sheet (with sides) place a tbs of olive oil and with a silcon brush or your hands spread it all over the pan.  Do the same for the other sheet.  Now lay the eggplant slices on the pans and place in your heated oven for 15 minutes.  At 15 minutes turn the slices over, and place the top pan on the bottom and the bottom pan on the top shelf.  This will help them brown evenly.  Let then bake for another 10 minutes.  They should be lightly brown.  Place on a platter and enjoy.

PS:  I use these to make moussaka and eggplant parmisan, however - WARNING:  it's very easy to have the family eat these all up and not have any left for the dishes mentioned.   Enjoy!

What I'm doing today:

I'm binding another quilt!  Seems like as word gets out that I like to bind - the quilts keep coming my way.  This is one my daughter Em and her friend, Jayme, started a few years back and it's finally ready to bind.  Jayme is getting married and we want to give it to her before she returns to Como, Italy for the wedding.

Beautiful fall colors and an ultrasuede border.  It is so soft and heavy as it must measure 90" square.  It would not be my choice of fabric for the border, but the color is fabulous and it really looks nice with the embroidery that was on it to begin with.  Learn something new all the time.  Question is will it wear well?

Destination for a road trip?

Quilts: Two Centuries of American Tradition and Technique Saturday, July 3 - Sunday, January 31, 2011  at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana.
Guest curated by Julia D. Zgliniec, Quilts: Two Centuries of American Tradition and Technique presents the patterns, stitches, fabrics and other construction techniques of the Bowers’ most popular quilts, and many that have never before been exhibited. To satisfy our curious and creative visitors, the top and bottom sides of several quilts will be visible. The exhibition features a variety of 19th and early 20th century patterns, a “Whole Cloth” or “Linsey-Woolsey” quilt dating to 1776, a 1930s “Utility” quilt made of men’s suiting samples, and an unfinished variation of a “Crazy” quilt from c. 1850. Made using paper templates of old receipts, bills, letters and other documents, this particular quilt is every bit as interesting as a historical item as it is a textile.

Soldiers' Angels project

I mentioned my Saturday was mostly taken up with an 8 hour class on the Old Testament, but I did get around to finish the binding on this Soldiers' Angel quilt.  This is my favorite of the 7 I am working on right now.  I'm just doing the binding and labeling.  I do have a block I made in this one.  We have 72 quilts to send this year.  Our guild members have been marvelous at pitching in and helping with these.

On the left are three others ready to go.  We hope they will bring some measure of comfort to our soldiers abroad this coming holiday season.

Gone back to School

I've been taking a Bible Study class online for about a year now. We were studying the Old Testament.  I found I had as many questions after each class than I did before, so when they announced in our church bulletin that Loyola Marymount would be having a continuing education class on the Old Testament in our area, I felt called to take it.  Saturday was our first class.  There are over 50 of us in it.  And the speakers are both excellent.  Between them, they have taught religious studies for over 30 years and wow, do they know their subject.  I look forward to finally understanding this collection of Books.