Pinwheel Sampler Quilt Finished

The Pinwheel Sampler Quilt is complete!  It is the largest quilt I have completed.  Thank you to Rachel at PS I Quilt for having the quilt along.  I had alot of fun making the blocks each week.  It took me awhile to get them together, border them and free motion quilt.   Puss is wondering what DH and Michelle are doing.  We took the photo here, because the light was the best.  Sorry for the mess, but we are a family of pet lovers and snugglers.  There are lots of bones, toys, pillows and blankets all over the living room most of the time.

I used off white, pink and brown thread to quilt loop de loops in the blocks and borders on my Bernina.  The thread is from Connecting Threads.  I didn't have any trouble with tension or thread breaking.  The only time I had skipped stitches was when I went too fast on the loops.  Slow is better with the Bernina. 

I took my time quilting because of some arm pain I've been having.  I really think I do a better job with more breaks tho.  If I do too much at once I get in a hurry and don't do as well.  Quilting an hour at a time was a good pace.

I love the backing fabric. I'm very pleased with the finished product.  I'm doing a little happy dance.  lol

Michelle was home for a couple days on her Spring Break.  She spent a lot of time doing home work, but we enjoyed having her presence in the house.  Why is it that food is a mother's way of showing love?  We had fried chicken, homemade buns, yellow cupcakes with fudge frosting and creamy chicken and wild rice soup.  I sent soup, buns and cupcakes home with her.  She is looking forward to graduation May 7th.  She just finished up a rotation in ICU.  She will make a very caring, competent nurse, I think. 

We enjoyed watching the local girls BB team play at the State Tournament.  They achieved a 3rd place finish.  There were some really close games--exciting.  SD PBS broadcasted the games and we were able to watch on the internet.  DH's great niece also played on a AA team that finished 7th.  The AA games were on the PBS tv channel we get.  It brought back good memories of our girls and their teams.

The weather is going to be warm this week here.  I'm feeling pretty ashamed of myself for whining the winter away.  So many people in Japan, New Zealand and Australia have suffered so much from Mother Nature.  I need to count my blessings more.  I pray for all these hurting people. 

I mentioned a book give away, so come back--that will be the next post.  Thank you for all your encouragement for my quilting and concern about my arm.  It is feeling some better. 

A Pinning Day

It was a pinning day.  The pinwheel quilt is finally a sandwich. I've been procrastinating, because I'm not sure how I'm going to FMQ it.  I cleaned off the dining room table, put a audio book in the disc player and pinned away--only bleeding twice.   It feels great to have it done to this point.

I've been wanting to try the disappearing nine patch block.   I want a February table runner for the library table in the living room.   I used some charm squares to make the nine patches--easy.  So I had a table runner to pin today too.  This was a fun and easy project.  I made 3 nine patch blocks.  After cutting the blocks in half, I only used 10 of the smaller blocks to make it the right size for my table.  

With the extra two blocks, I'm making some mug rugs.  There have been a lot of cute rugs in blog land.  I'd hate to miss out on the fun of making a couple.  I had a panel with some cute Valentines.  I added an extra strip to the small block to make it large enough to match the Valentine.  I did some free motion quilting and some straight lines.  I just have binding left, but I couldn't wait to show you.  : )

I had a nice outing last Friday.   Of course, I had to do more than "look" at The Quilters Corner.  Charm squares were 25% off.   I was pleased to add some Bliss and Happy charms to my stash.  I picked up some valentine fat quarters too.  I needed a little fabric "fix" for my January slump.  *wink*  

I was glad I could attend nephew Kyle's high school play.   Kyle was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 3.  He is a healthy 16 year old now.  It is a contest play and they will perform it for competition on Wednesday. 

This week has a promise of warmer weather--20's at least.   I won't be sorry to see January end.

Borders and Backing

I got the borders put on the Pinwheel quilt.  I wish I had made the outside border 4 inches instead of 3.  The quilt ended up being a 67 x 67 inch square.  This is the biggest quilt I've ever made.  I'm more of a baby quilt/table runner quilter.  This will be a challenge for me to quilt on my machine.  I'm not sure how I'm going to quilt it. 

This is the fabric for the backing.  I bought this from the clearance shelf at a LQS for $2.99 a yard a couple years ago.  I really liked it and bought it thinking it would make a pretty backing.  I spent yesterday ironing and piecing it together.  Now I have all three pieces of the quilt laying out and resting on the bed in the computer room. 

 Of course I'm procrastinating the sandwiching process today and worrying about how I should quilt it. So  I got out some Valentine fabric.  I have Terry Atkinson's pattern for "Snap Happy Bags" and I want to make some for Valentine's treats.  Don't you just love Valentine fabric?   I have quite a bit of it too.  lol  I got an old broken measuring tape from DH to use.  He's interested in seeing what I'm going to do with it. 

 

I finished up my Little Birdie block  #1 this morning.  I wasn't sure I was going to like using 6 strands of floss or the colors I chose.   I'm using the light gray fabric from the Sunkissed line and the snow is a cream color.  I have never embroidered with 6 strands of floss before either.  It has a very "chunky" look to it.  Now that I have it done, I'm kind of liking the different look.  It's good to try new things and have it look different than what I've always done.  It's growing on me every time I look at it.  I do need a different needle to work with next time.  There are some blood spots I'm hoping come out on the snowman's tummy.  I think a needle with a bigger head might pull through the fabric easier.  I'll have to check in town tomorrow for something like that.

I'm headed to town early in the morning with Peanut.  She is scheduled for her spay surgery at the vet.   She needs to be there at 8:00 am and I can pick her up after lunch.  She loves being outside, but she's sleeping on our bed with Rocco this afternoon.   Too cold for her, I guess.    It was -15 F this morning with a -42 wind chill.  It is suppose to warm a little tomorrow.  The sun is shining brightly today tho--that always makes it more bearable.   : )

January Progress

 After looking through all my starts from last year, I decided to set 2 goals for January.  The first one was to catch up on the Raggedy Ann & Friends blocks.  I completed block 5 & 6 the last couple days.  I know the next one will be out pretty soon, so I wanted to get all caught up.  I really want to stay on track with this quilt.  I like doing the embroideries and I love using my stash to piece the scrappy blocks.

My second goal is to put borders on my pinwheel quilt and get it totally finished.  I really like the Blush fabrics I used.  I got this one out today and layed it on the bed.  Now to measure and decide what borders I want to put on it.

I haven't joined any UFO groups.  I guess I have committment phobia.  lol  I know how little I can predict in my life, so it's better to set a couple small goals and proceed.   I can do the stitchery for the Little Birdie BOM now some evening too. 


We had quilting last night.  I sewed strips of fabric for 3 hours.  We are making a rails and stars quilt. The fabric was donated by a friend of one of our members.  It's mostly odds and ends, so this is a scrappy quilt.   Each year our group likes to make at least one quilt as a group.  The quilt will be given to a family who most needs it.   Last year a family lost their home to a fire and we gave them the quilt we had made.  I brought beef vegetable soup, buns and apple butter for supper.  There were only 4 of us.  Cold weather and family deaths made for a small group.  It was 9 F when I drove home at 9:00 pm. We will meet again in two weeks.

DH just doesn't understand how it can be fun to haul my sewing machine, sewing equipment, pot of soup and fixings 30 miles to meet for 3 hours.  It is such a soul restoring time for me.  Of course, I still had time to pick up 16 bags of medicated feed and buy groceries.  It's so nice to sew and visit with other women, especially the others that drive from the country.  We had a nice "bitch" session last night about husbands and ranching.
It's nice to know we all have the same challenges.  I'm certainly glad we aren't lambing like some are right now. 

DH is grinding feed today. I helped him get everything set up this morning after feeding. I'm so glad it was 30 degrees out and the sun shining. He didn't stop for lunch. Rocco and I delivered chicken salad on a bun to him. He will grind enough feed for 10 days. I hurried back to the house to start piecing block 6, before something broke down. : )


I'd better get planning my borders, before I need to go help DH unload the truck.  Until next time..........

Sashing Pinwheels

When I made my last pinwheel block, I forgot that I used the "white grunge" for the background fabric in every block.  Yesterday I put up all the blocks on my design wall and it just didn't look right to me.  I made another block with the white background.  Now I have a lovely orphan block--I'm thinking--pillow.  :)  I spent some time rearranging blocks until I decided this was "it".

I cut sashings strips and got the first two rows done.  I'm trying to decide if I want to make 25 little pinwheels for the cornerstones.  I've looked at some of the lovely quilts in the flickr group that did that and I really liked the way they looked.  I could also  use different color squares for the cornerstones too.  OR I could sash and be done.  I'm just pleased to have gotten this far.  I wish I could create as quickly as I can think up ways to do things.  I read on someone's blog the other day (I forget whose---sorry) to enjoy the process and not just try to get that  "#$%^& quilt done".   It would be nice to have a "finish", but I am a pokey quilter.   I'm glad to get the reassurance "it's good to be that way" from another quilter.

I think this little bunny is the cutest thing.  He is the last block in Paula's Seasons Sew Along.  Now I can trim and sew this together too.  I entered a giveaway for Paula's two newest patterns.  I won!  How cool is that.  I think they are really cute patterns for children's quilts.

DH has been enjoying the sweet smell of freshly cut alfalfa.  He is hoping the rain will hold off until it dries alittle and then he can bale it into large round bales to feed the cattle this winter.  We made a trip to town today with 3 old cows and the bull that didn't pass the vet's testing.  With luck the check will pay for the 3 new bulls we bought. 

I stocked up on groceries and DH bought some fishing tackle.   We may sneak away to fish a day this week-end.   Hugs.......................

Jelly Roll Block 3

I got the Jelly Roll quilt block done yesterday afternoon.

I thought this block design needed to have contrast to really "pop".   I haven't ever made blocks like this before.  It was so easy--no seams to match.  Something else I like was the way the seams on the back all press down so neatly.  I love when that happens and everything lays so nice and flat.  I get thrilled easily as you can see.  This quilt along has been fun and meeting the people who are designing the blocks is a nice bonus.  This is only block 3, so you can still catch up, if you have a jelly roll you want to use.  One new block every 2 weeks.  I put the button on the side--new thing to learn for me.  Not sure I did it right, but it works. 

We  had 2 babies yesterday.  Our 1 long horn cow had her baby--a cute little reddish black heifer. Most of our cows are Black Angus/Simmental cross.  My BIL brought this long horn to us about 12 years ago. It's always a mystery what her calf will look like.  Last year she had a little spotted one like herself.  Here is a picture of the long horn.  I need to start carrying my camera, so I can take some baby pictures for you. Tomorrow is April 1st and that is when we are suppose to start with the calving season. 

I thought I would introduce you to Miss Puss today.  I found her in the barn 9 years ago.  She had been abandoned and was starving.  I was never sure who her mom was.  We were new empty nesters and she filled the nest.  DH always had the girls to pick on and he needed someone new to entertain him.  Puss is a total inside cat.  She is somewhat of a fraidy cat, so she watches the world out the window.  She has no interest in going out that door.  She is also a hands off cat--she will tolerate maybe 1 or 2 strokes, but then she'll let you know  "hands off".  She hasn't been too pleased with the additions to the household this last year.  She tolerates them from a distance.  As long as she has DH's lap at night, she is content .

She has always liked the high places.  At least she keeps the top of the cupboards dusted for me.                   

DH still has lots of fence to fix, so I'll just be checking moms today.  I plan to cut out and start sewing the blocks for the Pinwheel Sampler quilt along at psiquilt.  I am using a Blush layer cake and also making a scrappy green and purple set, so I have 4 blocks to make.  These blocks have been fun, but there are points to match.  I like pinwheel blocks.  This is a weekly quilt along.  I am trying to stay on task, so I don't get behind.  I've found it really motivates me to keep up and post on flicker.  It's so much fun to see all the different colors that people are using. 

That's it for today.  I'm off to start a load of laundry and pick up a little.  I need to enjoy some sun today, because rain is predicted for tomorrow.  It was just starting to get dried up in the yard, but we all know  April showers bring May flowers.  I hope you get to do something you like today.  A hug for you.........