Finally, the Girls

Rolling of the dice has been kind of sporadic, but it is the holiday season.  And other project obligations must come first.  

Several of our Thursday group are making "A Place For Everything" bags by Annie.  I finally got my pages complete.

Fronts and backs.  Color is off, the reds are actually two different shades of pink.  Maybe once Christmas is over, I can get the outside done.

I did roll the dice last week.  #3 - Raw edge circles.  I had 19 of the 30 done and finished stitching the remaining 11.  Now these will be quartered and randomly sewn back together.

One of the guilds I belong to had dies made for the Accuquilt (4 different sized circles), then sold kits made from several stashes. I think I only had two different fabrics that were duplicated.

The blocks at the top in the center are our quilt-along block samples for December.  

And I managed to get two basket handles hand stitched down (on the right).  Have I mentioned that I don't like hand work?  These will be the corners of the next border for what you can see in the upper left corner.

And finally, the retreat girls.  This was fun to put together.

I used my own block as the label.

They will be displayed in our Thursday stitching room.

Now, my goal is to complete nine laundry bags for my grands for Christmas.  They are all going on cruises so these will fit in the suitcases along with some cash to spend.

OH!! And Leon should be home today.  YAY!!!

Until next time....

Wishing you more stitchin time than I will have.

Rose

Happy Thanksgiving

 I want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving.  

It's been quite a week.  I did accomplish quite a bit on the stitching front.

Last week I rolled a 5, Midnight at the Oasis by Jen Kingwell.  I managed to get the last side of border #1 hand stitched plus the corner baskets and 30 of 52 Churn Dash blocks that finish at 3" for the next border.

I failed to get a picture of the retreat girls.  Maybe next week.

I'm not rolling the dice this week, partly because of the holiday and partly because I have some non-tubbed things to get done.  Like keeping up with the QALs for the guild, the By Annie bag that a half dozen of us are doing together and I have 10 laundry bags to make.

I was going to make all of the grandkids laundry bags for Christmas because they are all going on cruises and I'm giving money this year and that way they will have something to open.  Well, I learned that three of them (the ones that spend it with us) are going on their cruise before Christmas.  So, theirs need to be completed.  And then, I'll get them something to open Christmas morning.

Have a great Thanksgiving!!!!

Until next time.

Wishing you more stitching time than I will have.

Rose

Leon is sick!!

 Leon is my Q'nique 19X elite longarm.  He got sick last Wednesday and has to go to the hospital. I was stitching feathers.  I had stitched about 5 fronds of the first feather and he decided to quit.  The needle was just barely in the fabric.  I sent a message through the web site, received an email with some instructions and nothing happened. Then yesterday I called and the tech walked me through a couple of things that still didn't work. 

 I posted about the disastrous arrival here.  And when he was finally set up here.

He was working fine a couple weeks ago.

And here he is now. 😢

Ready to go back to Grace Frame.

Thank goodness I don't have a ton of quilts to be done by Christmas.

Last week I rolled a 6.  That tub contained Linked.  I had cut all of the parts in February, so this is where it started last Wednesday.

And the progress made this week on the design wall.

My scrappy moon blocks on the left.

Rolled the dice today and..... #5 which is Midnight at the Oasis by Jen Kingwell.  It's mostly hand stitching until I can get some Monopoly thread from Superior Threads.  I'm not sure it's what I want to take to stitching tomorrow, but I'll figure that out in the morning.

Until next time.

Wishing you more stitchin time than I will have.

Rose

Back from Kansas and a quilt delivery

 We had an awesome weekend with our son and his family in Kansas.  It's a long way for just a weekend, but that's all the time we had, and we've been missing them.

When we arrived, it was in time to attend lump's first orchestra concert.  She's learning the violin and she's growing up. 

We had game time while Mom cooked supper one night.

Out to eat another night for Poppy's birthday.

And today I had to have some medical test done which would take me by Chelsea Antiques.  I wanted to deliver this quilt posted about here and here and here and here.

A quick recap - I purchase these hand stitched blocks at Chelsea Antiques.  The maker is unknown.  When I was checking out the lady behind the counter asked if I was going to finish them.  I told her yes, but not by hand.  She said she would love to see it when finished.  After that conversation it was my intentions all along to take the quilt back and give it to her.  I've had it done for several months, but just didn't have an opportunity to take it to her.

The Mrs. wasn't there today but the Mr. was.  So, I explained why I was there and asked him for a picture and permission to post it.  He didn't want to be seen.  And he said he would deliver the quilt to her.  I just hope she enjoys it.  Please, Mrs., don't "save" it, use it.

Until next time.

Wishing you more stitchin time than I will have.

Rose

No roll this week.

 Last week I rolled a 5.  Tub #5 had Dropped Stitches, another kit purchased in Paducah during Quilt Week 2022.  Because it only lacked 2 borders I wanted to finish the pieced backing for Fish Tails.  

I am trying to use ALL of the leftover fabrics on the back.  That was done last Friday.

The borders on Dropped Stitches were completed Saturday morning. 

 Saturday afternoon was spent joining ALL of the remaining fabric for the back of this one.  DRAT!!  I had to order 3.5 yards of additional fabric because I couldn't find anything suitable in the stash to supplement like I did for the other one. 

Until next time. As we travel this week, I have to remind my DH.

Wishing you more stitchin time than I will have.

Rose

Rolling the dice again.

 So, last week I read that you should blog consistently and that when you have an idea, go ahead and enter the information in a draft.  That is what I have done with this post.  (the original post begins at the **) Then yesterday there was a bump in the old proverbial road.  I was so proud of myself for my accomplishments since I rolled the dice last week.  After finishing the binding and label on the retreat girls I started piecing the back for Fish Tails.  Making really good progress and I have a plan.  I am using all of the leftover fabric on the back.  While I was turning the sewing room off for the day, I looked up at the flimsy on the design wall thinking how am I going to quilt it?  When BAM!!! It hit me.  Right in the face (see picture).  Do you see it?  Normally I would just leave it, but this time I just can't!!  I want to put it back in tub #4 and wait for its time to come back up. UGH!!

** I have felt that I have accomplished nothing while working on so many projects all the time.  Last week, I decided to start rolling the dice again.

I have a few obligations, like the Summer Moon QAL that our guild is doing.  I suggested this pattern, so I am making the sample blocks each month.  I started to make a scrappy one along with everyone else but have since scrapped that.  And then our Thursday group is making a By Annie bag and for some reason I am "leading" that one too.  

So Thursday when I returned from stitching, I rolled the dice.  #4.  That tub had a kit that was purchased at Hancock's of Paducah during quilt week in 2022.  It's called Fish Tails. Some of the blocks were partially done and as of Monday, the flimsy is complete and the binding is ready.  

Fixed in time to roll the dice again.

Plus, I completed my weekly and monthly obligations before I started working on it.  I will add it to the ever growing "to be quilted" pile and reload tub #4.  I will be rolling the dice on Wednesday going forward.  Today I rolled #5.

And I put the binding and label on the quilt retreat girls.  Posted about here and here.  A sneak peek at the label.  I will post a picture of the completed quilt after I reveal it to the participants of the retreat.  This block is mine.

My goal was to get this done by our November meeting which is on the 14th.  But we are planning a trip to visit with our son and his family from the 6th through the 12th.  Then I have some medical tests on the 13th.  Goal has been reached.

And I will leave you with the beauty in my own back yard.

I wish my camera gave them justice.  And I guess fall is my favorite time of the year because the next picture is one of my favorite scenes.

I love to see the leaves on the ground and we have watched the leaves fall.

Until next time,

Wishing you more stitching time than I will have.

Rose

Retreat 2024 is in the books

 It was retreat time and a good time was had by all.  I stole these photos from our Facebook page.  Thanks, Martha, for taking them.

Our location.  We occupied the entire lower floor and meals were served in the upper floor.

And the view.

The weather couldn't have been better.

This is my mess which didn't change much for most of the weekend.

We all made laundry bags to put in our suitcases.  That was a fun project.

We always have a "goody" bag for each attendee.  I made ByAnnie project bags for each one.  Then four of us added goodies to each bag. 

When I was making these bags, I planned to make 20.  So, I pulled fabric for all of them and put it in a tub.  Since we only had 13 attending the retreat I didn't complete the rest of them.

Today's organization challenge over at Prairie Moon Quilts is to put away stray fabric.  Besides the 14 fabrics from the additional 7 project bags, there are other piles of fabrics that need to be put away.  Thank you, Shelly, for the much needed challenge.

Until next time....

Wishing you more stitching time than I will have.

Rose

Off The Road Again

 WARINING:  Picture heavy and not much about quilting. 😊

I originally titled this on the road again, but words would not come to me while we traveled.  Now we're home and even with so much to tell about our 51-day trip, I'm still having troubles.  Have I mentioned that I'm not a writer?

So, let's see.  The family that I told about in the previous post came to visit us at the campground on Tuesday and the baby was born on Friday.

Isn't she adorable?

We got to meet her in person on the return trip.

And they are going to visit us next month!!!  

It's amazing how, sometimes, you meet people, and that friendship is instant and, I believe, will be long lasting.

The stabilizers on the motorhome quit on day 3.  Thank goodness they were up when they quit.  We were lucky in that we had pretty level spots to park the entire trip.  The only thing was that it was like being on a boat when DH moved around.

When we arrived at my sister's camp I said, let the fun begin.

We had campfires every night.

Our dogs wrestled every day (all day).

We ate out twice a week.

Best friend from high school visited.

A storm knocked the power line down too close for comfort.

Thank goodness we weren't there.

I tried to get porcupine quills for my stitchin friends to use as stilettos.

They were too flimsy.

I gave my sister a quilt for their camper.

I bought the fabric and pattern in 2002 when our mother lived in Florida.  See mom, I'm not a quitter!!!

And......

I presented a QOV to my brother-in-law.

It was an awesome trip but I'm glad to be home. Maybe 51 days is a bit long.

Until next time.

Wishing you more stitchin time than I will have.

Rose

June was very productive

 As July has been also.  But I have been neglectful at taking pictures.

Lump came to visit us for an afternoon while she was here with her momma.  She's growing so fast.

We went to a couple of thrift stores and at one point she told me that I was relatable.  LOL.  She said, "I can relate to you."  It tickled me.

I did get the maple leaf quilt completed.  I posted about it here and here.  I did get it completed by meeting time.  They turned out awesome.  I used muslin on the back because I thought that's what the maker would have used.  Once washed, they crinkled up so nice and it looks antique.

Someone at the meeting asked if I was going to keep this one.  The answer is "no".  I'm going to take them back to Chelsea Antiques and give them to the lady that checked me out.

Okay, now for the real story of this post.  

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.  I'm not sure which applies here but......

When we went to see the eclipse we met a sweet family that I briefly mentioned in this post.  Well yesterday was day two of or 51-day motorhome trip.  We only drove 122 miles on day one because we knew we wanted to stay at Cave Country RV Park and we are trying to keep our driving days to 200+/- miles.   This park is one of our favorite on the way to Northern Michigan.  This is our third year staying here and it's close to that sweet family.  They have four kids (3 boys and 1 girl) and number 5 (a girl) is expected this week.  UPDATE!! Our visit was on Tuesday and Baby Girl came on Friday.

When we got home from the eclipse, I got to work.  I had a kit that was purchased at Hancock's of Paducah in 2022 called Ambient Bracelets.  It's made by cutting squares on point from strips, which makes for a lot of waste.  I took the "cutoffs" and made a baby quilt for the new baby.

Then, because the 8-year-old will be sharing a room with the new baby when she gets a little older, I made the original (altered) pattern for her so they would match. 

The original pattern had a border but I was in a time crunch, so I opted not to put the border on (the front).  

I put the border on the back and I also used almost all of the leftovers for a couple of the strips.  It actually would have been quicker to put the borders on the front, but I absolutely love how the back turned out.

And here is the recipient all snuggled up under it.

We had the most AWESOME visit with them.  We ordered pizza for dinner.  It started to sprinkle when it was time to eat.  Who would have thought 8 people would be comfortable in this little home away from home.

Here's a picture of two of the four kids with Lizzie.

I wish I had gotten a picture of the whole family.  We will be back to see them again and meet the new one.

I brought some hand stitching (ugh!!) to do while on the road.  We will be on the road for 5 days and then I have three projects to work on while spending 41 days with my sister.  I am an early riser so I will sew while I wait for everyone else to get moving.  Then 5 days on the return trip.

When I get pictures of the quilt I made for my sister I will post again.

Wishing you more stitchin time than I will have.

Rose