Wow!!!

Tonight I had the honor of being with some really wonderful people! I was part of the Honor Flight of Northwest Ohio's celebration of the return from the day in Washington, D.C.  Jack and I attended the event and we only took a few photos, but I'll be receiving some from a friend who was there taking pictures. All I can say is that it was such an honor to be part of this.

Check out all the quilts that were given to the veterans tonight!



Here we are anxiously awaiting the plane's arrival.

And here is the Genoa, OH American Legion Band. They entertained us while we were waiting and then played wonderful music for the veterans.

Later, I'll post a couple of pictures we have of me handing out some of the quilts. I know I said it before but this truly was an honor for me!





Tonight.....

....is the Honor Flight quilt presentation in Toledo.

I'm excited!

Design Wall Monday

It's Monday and I am always excited to see what everyone is working on this week. Not a week goes by that I am not intriguesd, inspired or just plain amazed at some of the works I see here. Thanks Judy for setting this up and thanks to all you quilters who share your work here!

Last week I posted a picture of these fabrics.

Well, here's what they look like now (sort of, because it's a crppy picture).

I am ready to sew the rows together and start adding borders. YEAH!!

This quilt is made using large pieces and even though that's not my favorite thing to do, sometimes it's perfect considering the time I have available to sew. This is going together very quickly and that's exactly what I wanted/needed.

On a completely different topic....I'm using a new laptop and it is amazing how much different it is. The keyboard is smaller so I keep hitting the wrong keys and not only typing the wrong letter, but moving the cursor all over the place It's quite comical. Just like anything else, I'll get the hang of it, but be patient if you seen something that makes no sense at all. Assume that my big, fat fingers (they feel like sausages while using this keyboard) just hit the worng key.  :-)

Check out what other quilters have on their design walls today. Go to Judy L.'s Patchwork Times.

Stash Report - Week 39

As I predicted last week, I didn't do much sewing this past week. I did use 5 yards, which is pretty much what I expected since I had hoped to piece together the blocks for the Big Ten quilt for which I had cut the pieces last week and posted on my Design Wall Monday.

I did go to the big sale also and even though I purchased quite a bit, most of it wasn't for me so I don't have to include it in my report. I had some friends and family who knew thay weren't going to be able to go so they asked me to pick up some things for them when I went on Tuesday, which was the first day of the sale. I tried to get their things first because I didn't want to forget anything and I really didn't mind doing it but I'll tell you what, by the time I was done getting their things I really didn't want to spend much time looking for anything for me. I really didn't NEED anything. I just wanted to get some background fabrics because I'm really low on them. I did that and was ready to go. I guess that shopping in a crowded shop is a good way to control myself and not over-buy. Well, whatever, it worked. I did return to the shop on Friday and got the fabric for a specific quilt which I hope to have together before Christmas. The only other fabric I bought Friday was not for me. So, 13.5 yards are posted in the stash report, but only 6 yards is not earmarked for a specific project. I don't think that's too shabby!

Here's the report:
Fabric Added This Week: 13.50 yards

Fabric Added to Date: 158.375 yards
Fabric Used This Week: 5.00 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 335.375 yards
Net Fabric Used for 2011: 177.00 yards
UFOs Done, Done, Done (Pieced, Quilted, and Bound): 9
UFOs Still to Do: ???
New Quilts Done, Done, Done (Pieced, Quilted, and Bound): 30
Quilts Ready to be Quilted and Bound: 6
Quilts Quilted and Ready to be Bound: 3

Check out how other quilters are doing with their stash usage. Go to Judy L.'s Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday

I shouldn't be, but I am....I'm pulling fabric for a new quilt!

The pattern is Big Ten by Swirly Girls Design

and here are my fabrics.

Now I have to explain that a couple of months ago I bought set of four one-yard cuts of fabrics with no idea how I would use them. The set included the following fabrics from the picture above: the bottom fabric (which I LOVE and the main reason I bought the set), the fourth from the bottom, the sixth from the bottom and the eighth from the bottom. I brought the set home and pulled what I thought might be coordinating fabrics and set it aside. Well, when I saw the Big Ten pattern, I knew that would work so I got serious and pulled other fabrics. I did have to buy some additional fabric (the dark fabric along the right side which will be used as the frame for some of the blocks and one other orange) but I was ok with that. Actually, I have too many fabrics now and I have to decide which two don't get used in the quilt center but that shouldn't be too difficult.

Anyway, that's what's on the wall now and I can't wait to start sewing. Unfortunately my week is looking pretty busy so this might still be on the wall next week. We'll see......

Check out what other quilters have on their design walls!
Go to Judy L.'s Patchwork Times.

Stash Report - Week 38

There wasn't a whole lot of quilting going on here this past weekend, but I did manage to use a bit more than what came in. I'm not making any promises for next week though because there are a couple of sales going on at which I know I'll do some damage. I'm extremely happy with my usage this year and don't think that my purchases have been too bad. Actually, just about everything I've purchased has been done so for specific projects. Now, whether or not all those projects have been completed (or even started) is another story. :-)

Here's the report.
Fabric Added This Week: 3.00 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 144.875 yards
Fabric Used This Week: 5.00 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 330.375 yards
Net Fabric Used for 2011: 185.50 yards
UFOs Done, Done, Done (Pieced, Quilted, and Bound): 9
UFOs Still to Do: ???
New Quilts Done, Done, Done (Pieced, Quilted, and Bound): 30
Quilts Ready to be Quilted and Bound: 6
Quilts Quilted and Ready to be Bound: 3

Check out how other quilters are doing with their stash usage. Go to Judy L.'s Patchwork Times.

Surprises!

Surprises usually are good things. For example, Sunday evening I decided make a small Halloween version of my Framed! quilt and got my fabrics together to work on it. Monday morning I started cutting and piecing my blocks and posted my progress on Design Wall Monday. I was pleasantly surprised to get the entire project done last night. Pieced, quilted and bound!

  Here's the back. I just LOVE this fabric!

I think the fabrics for the front and back play really well together. Don't you?

Another nice and pleasant surprise was that I had all of these fabrics in my stash!

Now, there are time when surprises really aren't nice. Like this morning when I walked into the garage and saw a snake coiled up by the overhead door. I really had no choice but to open the door; but I was concerned as to which direction the critter would scurry when it heard the door opening. I decided to be brave and try to "encourage" it to head toward the freedom of the great outdoors. Of course that meant I had to push the button and rush over to an agitated snake and hope that I was fast enough to stop him from slithering past me and make his way in to the back of the garage. I took a deep breath, pushed the button and ran toward the snake. I might have made a few noises (aka screams) too but I don't know about that. I was concentrating.

Since I'm calm enough to post about this, I think you can surmise that I was successful in my endeavor. And no, I did not even think about get pictures to post.  :-)

Of course when I told my husband about this, he just shook his head and wondered why I dislike snakes so much. I don't know and I don't care. I just am. But today's score is Joanne 1, snake 0!

Design Wall Monday

I'm happy to say that there is something on my design wall today and I think it's kind of fun. The blocks aren't even put together yet, but I'm already auditioning borders. Do you think I'm excited to get this done, or what? Don't you just love the purple and green for Halloween? I really needed to work with some bright fabrics. It's making me feel happy.

This wall hanging, which will end up being around 30" x 39", is from the same pattern as these three quilts.

Isn't it amazing how different quilts look when you use different fabrics and or layouts?  I guess I really like this pattern, seeing as I'm making it for the fourth time! Really, I'm not stuck in a rut. I just like this pattern and it's quick to adjust to the final size you need or to the fussy cut center you may be using. Would it help to know that each time I've made this, I've either re-sized the block or changed the border? Now it just sounds like I'm making excuses so I'll stop explaining myself and get back to quilting.  :-)

Check out what other quilters have on their design walls today. Grab a cup of coffee or tea and hop on over to Judy L's Patchwork Times. Enjoy!

Stash Report - Weeks 34-37 YIKES!!

It's late Sunday evening and I'm just now getting around to my stash report. I guess I should look at it from another perspective - at least I'm posting a stash report, which is more than I can say that I've done for almost a month now.

I finished a couple of projects and I even sold a few things so all in all, it's been a good month quilting wise.  I'm really thinking that 200 net used yards just might happen. :-)

I think that I'm most excited about the fact that I've completed 9 UFO and 29 new quilts. Now if I can just get the balance of the tops quilted and bound.....

Here's the report.
Fabric Added These 4 Weeks: 4.375 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 141.875 yards
Fabric Used These 4 Weeks: 20.00 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 325.375 yards
Net Fabric Used for 2011: 183.50 yards
UFOs Done, Done, Done (Pieced, Quilted, and Bound): 9
UFOs Still to Do: ???
New Quilts Done, Done, Done (Pieced, Quilted, and Bound): 29
Quilts Ready to be Quilted and Bound: 6
Quilts Quilted and Ready to be Bound: 3

Check out how other quilters are doing with their stash usage. Go to Judy L.'s Patchwork Times.

AHHHHHHHH. That's Better!

At the risk of jinxing myself, I have working e-mail again! I was so frustrated when it didn't work for a couple of reasons. First of all, there were things I should have printed out as soon as I read the e-mail, but I didn't and I needed them ASAP. Next, I realized that I have become one of those people that depends on technology. I never wanted to be one of those people! But, the main reason I was so frustrated is that the "HELP" tab did nothing except take me in circles.

The error message said to click "HELP" if I couldn't sign in to my account but when I did that, it asked for my password which no longer worked. The message said that I would have to change my password and to follow these steps to do so.

1. Sign into the account and then click on "MY ACCOUNT" (I couldn't get in the account so anything else was simply not going to happen, but it was listed on the steps to correct the problem.)
2. Once in the account, click on "SETTINGS" and then "CHANGE PASSWORD"
3. To change the password, type in the old password and then the new one. Seriously, how was I supposed to do that when I couldn't get in the account.

Needless to say, I didn't change my password, but what I did do was try too many times because my account was LOCKED because of a possible security breach! I could try again in 12 hours!

Funny thing is that I could get into the main yahoo account, but not my e-mail. I sent a message to the "HELP CENTER" explaining the problem and when the auto message said I needed to provide them with an e-mail address to which they should respond I about lost it. DUHHHHH!!! I can't get into my e-mail! I had to set up a new account and cross my fingers and hope that it worked. I don't know what happened, but when I checked my e-mail tonight it was working. It hadn't been 12 hours so I don't know what was wrong. Now, I have another e-mail address to deal with. YUCK! Of course, I could just cancel that one. Yea, I think I'll do that. That will feel really good. CANCEL, CANCEL, CANCEL!!! I feel better already!  :-)

Anyway, it works and I'm happy again.

Between all the running around and e-mail drama today, Jack and I froze some corn. Doesn't this look good. I thought this might be the end of the corn for us, but I decided that I want to do about another 5-10 dozen so I have plenty for holidays, family gatherings, etc. Most of what we've frozen up to this point has been frozen in packages for just the two of us. Next should be apples!

A new friend asked me to quilt and bind her 1600 quilt. This was her first quilting project and when she was done with the original pattern, she decided she wanted it bigger so she added a couple of borders. I think it turned out well. I quilted an all-over loop-de-loop design using a gray thread on top and bottom. The backing fabric is the same as the outside border. This picture really doesn't do it justice, but the fabric is gorgeous. Trust me. (Do I sound like a politician?) Thanks Kare for letting me use your machine. I love all the colors of this!

Frustrated!!

I've been trying to get to my e-mail today and it keeps asking me to verify my password. Well, I've done that at least a dozen times and it still won't recognize it. Of course I have an alternate e-mail to have them send help but I get the same message on that e-mail account. It seems to me that the "help" is really just taking me in circles. I sure do miss being able to talk to an actual person!

I tried answering the security question and I guess I've answered it incorrectly because now my account is frozen for the next 12 hours! ARGGGGGG

I have a bunch of e-mails to respond to and send out and I can't do it. Of course I didn't print out the meeting info for this afternoon so I don't even remember the address of where I'm supposed to go.

It's official. I'm really frustrated right now!

I'm Baaaaack

It's amazing how time can just get away from me. I've been really busy and when I've had to make decisions of what to do, blogging has taken a back seat. It doesn't mean that I haven't thought about it though. I had every intention of doing stash reports and Design Wall Monday posts, but it just didn't happen. Well, I'm here now so I'll give a quick update on my adventures.

Nikki, Zach, Quinn and Sadie were here this past week. They came to town Tuesday and were here through the weekend. It was wonderful to have them here and I can't believe how much the girls have grown. Sadie is walking (and getting into lots of things) and Quinn is speaking so clearly and it's really fun to have long conversations with her. I didn't get much in the way of picture, but I will the next time they're here. 

I've been sewing!  :-)  Actually, I've been finishing up things. YEAH!!!

Here's a completed UFO. This is a Thimbleberries pattern, but I can't remember which one right now. (I've got to figure that out so I can label this properly.) Lynn started this a number of years ago and then it got set aside. Well I finished the top earlier this year and just now got it quilted and bound. It's going to the DONE, DONE, and DONE List (Pieced, Quilted and Bound). WooHoo!!!!

Here's another UFO that is DONE, DONE, and DONE. This is a 10-Minute Block quilt that has the prettiest colors in it, even though the picture doesn't do it justice. I really like brown and teal together! This isn't nearly as old as the quilt above because I started it last year, but it was a UFO that has found it's way to the other side of the quilt pile.

I have another UFO (my oldest one actually), that is DONE and DONE but still needs binding. I made the binding tonight and will put it on in the next couple of days. I'll post a picture when it's done. All three of these quilts are a bit big but not huge. The two above are 80" x 92" and 80" x 94". The third one is a bit bigger at 98" x 98".

Speaking of large quilts, I really liked the quilt that I raffled off this year so I'm making another one. This one will be for me! Here's the progress so far. I still need to add the pieced border and I think I will make the side pieced borders larger this time so it hangs down more on the bed. If I make the change, it should measure about 95" x 105".

I decided to make a smaller version of this quilt also, but in a more controlled fashion. Do you remember the Honor Flight quilt using this pattern? (It's the eighth one down from the top of the pictures if you follow the link.) Well, I decided to make a Christmas throw, but add the pieced border. I like how it turned out. This is a new quilt that is DONE, DONE, and DONE. (Amazingly enough, I started this quilt on Monday and finished it Tuesday. I guess I was excited to get it done.)

And just to show you that I've done other things besides quilt, here is the latest batch of pickles we put up. I love home-made pickles!

I'm really excited that things are getting done and sure hope it continues for quite a while!