Aprils UFO #4

I have to Thank Judy for hosting this UFO challenge. I did not ( okay I really did, but I don't want to admit it) realize how competitive I am.... sometimes.... and it is all with myself!! My dear sweet family kept saying - Mom - give it up, its okay if it's not done. Well! Fine! I showed them!!

Sort of - the binding is not done, but because it is a Quilt of Valor I have this group of lovely lovely ladies who bind QOV's... and well - what is one more right?

Heres the full quilt picture.

Here's a closer up one. And I think I know (remember)why this became a UFO! I think these were the reject blocks that didn't come out perfect. Or at least square enough that I didn't have to majorly trim them. and of course I kind of forgot that until I was sewing them into rows.

And the back - just a solid piece of a plaid fabric. I like it!

And there you go - UFO #4

4 UFO's in 4 months - that deserves some kind of treat right?

A Judge!

I have been asked to be a Celebrity Judge for the Annual Firehouse Quilts Quilt show..... so get your quilts in to this show. I was asked to judge it last year too, and oh my , that was the toughest job ever!!!

And they had real quilt judges do the placings - but choosing my quilt was a big job.

Go To http://www.firehousequilts.org/ and look at the requirements and the easy way they have set up to enter the show.

Then send in the eye candy!!! And if you are in this area - mark your calendars and come to the show!! 

It is the 15th and 16th of July this year!

It's Official

I am *that* mom!!

Years ago when my oldest was 5, we started playing basketball. We made friends with a great family that had 4 kids, their youngest was the same age as my oldest. She was/is a wealth of information, but I started noticing that she missed a lot of practices, and that sometimes she dropped her kiddo off at practice and didn't come in, and then a few times she called for us to pick her son up.

She explained that she was in that phase known as *bus driver* and she would drop kids at different locations, maybe have time to check out 10 minutes of a practice/event, and then start the pick up process.

And I kind of hoped that would never happen to me, apparently hope, is all it was!!!

Last night I had to call in the reinforcements! I had one child at the east end of one town, and 2 children at the west end of a second town ( as in as FAR apart as they could be) and all three of them needed to be picked up/dropped off at 5:30. 

I called Mom and Dad.... bless them!! They picked up one child... FED him, and brought him to where the other 2 children were. And then we all got home at 9pm. Which brings me to the most important point..... they took over my sewing time!!! ALL of it!!!

High School swim season winds down at the end of May, so right now we are in the thick of it, and even though I am not swimming, I am the driver. We have to swim at a school in Greeley, as our school doesn't have a swim team.....

So if I have nothing exciting to show on the quilty front - will you still love me?

Quilts of Valor Eye Candy

You might have seen this quilt in a few places. Mary at http://blog.maryquilts.com/ made it, and she has the pattern on her website - http://www.maryquilts.com/   But I have to be honest - its better in person!! Thanks Mary!

These next 4 quilts come from the Northwest Suburban quilt guild in Illinois.

I just love the variations of Quilts of Valor that this groups makes. I think this Star quilt is awesome!

But then I pulled the flag quilt out and - be still my heart - This one is beautiful!!

But then - there was this one. I LOVE scrap quilts!! Isn't this cool?

Thank you all for these beautiful quilts!

My designs are on the table.

Hope everyone had a Great Easter Weekend! We got to spend Easter with my parents and it snowed!!! and I was wearing Flip Flops.... go figure. It was fun to have a roaring fire and watch it come down!

I am at the stage of the year where I am wishing that it is over... sort of... the kids and all their events are taking all of our time! So little sewing is being done, but I do have a few things on the sewing table.

I am hoping I will get some sewing time in this week to finish my orange project before April is Over!!!!  Wish me luck!

Go to http://www.patchworktimes.com/ to see other design walls!

Wildlife Experience

Yesterday as a field trip day... to the Wildlife Experience in Parker CO. It is a pretty cool place, and in addition to seeing all the cool animals, there was a science fair. Some of these experiments were pretty cool.

Did you know that Sonar used by humans in the ocean harms Whales? Well the cutest little 7 year old girl taught us all about it!

Did you know you could hook your bike up to an alternator type thing and figure out how to make your bike riding power your wii?  The sweetest 11 year old boy showed us his invention. Although I have a feeling his mom is really the winner on this deal!

The Wildlife experience has a lot of different Biomes ( thats scientific words there LOL) and you get to go thru them all.... hence the Polar Bear - who was HUGE by the way!

Do they look like they are chasing the wagon train in the 1800's?

This is the front of the building. Pretty cool day.... and then we headed up to Longmont, via a short stop at The Quilt Store in Broomfield, and went to the oldest brothers swim meet.

He did quite awesome and we let him ride home in the car with us, rather than run home!!

Good Morning! It is still morning right?

My schedule is all messed up, and my days are backwards.... My oldest son was at the FBLA State convention and we had to have him at the bus on Sunday at 6am, and he got back yesterday. Just in time for me to speed him to the pool to compete in a swim meet. And since we are all off schedule, none of us are sure what day it is !! Don't you love weeks like that?

It is a good thing I set some goals, or I might have been drifting all week....well I might have been drifting anyways - but I have pictures!!!

First on my list was to start my Orange Quilt.... and here is some of the oranges all cut.

Some stitching was even done.....

Second was to Quilt a few Quilts. This is a customer quilt, Her Mother in Law made the top and it was sent to me to quilt. I had fun checking out all the fabrics she used in the fan blades.

I also had time to work on a Top Secret project, got the top put together and got it quilted yesterday and you will just have to wait until it is given to see it. But I like how it turned out!

An unmentioned that was on my list was to start getting things cleaned out! We signed up for a Yard Sale over in Loveland on May 7th. It's purpose was to force us to get rid of the stuff we don't use anymore, and take back our basement. We have a lot of stuff.... its sad!

But I found this magazine and It is a complete quilt pattern - So I thought I would do a giveaway!

If you would like this leave me a comment saying you do -

And on Friday at 3pm we will draw a winner!!

Oh ya! My list for next week.

1. Still make the purple binding, I have chosen the fabric and that is as far as I got.

2. Bind the Top Secret Quilt ( ugh - gag - need chocolate)

3. Go to Mom and Dads for Easter and eat all of their food.

4. Work on Orange Quilt

Oh! And my son won in his category at FBLA and gets to go to the National Convention in Florida.... the younger kids and I are thinking Disney world!!

To see what others are up to:

http://crossroadsquilts.wordpress.com/

Wow!

A while ago ( like 2 years) I quilted a quilt for a friend and I copied it exactly as I could - and today I recieved a comment from the person I copied - How cool is that?

Here is the comment:

I just ran across your blog and the entry regarding the wedding quilt. You sell your talent short! Your feathers are beautiful! I am honored that you mentioned me. You did a fabulous job replicating the original designs. I always enjoy knowing that I was able to influence a fellow quilter. High praise indeed.


Mary Nordeng

And here is the link to the post:

http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/2009/05/blue-wedding-quilt.html

I am tickled!! Plus - I just found out that the person that the quilt was made for is getting married soon - so her gift is all ready!!

Stash Report Sunday

This week my oldest son had a swim meet ( okay he has them a lot but....) and I had to get him to the bus by 1:15 pm, but the meet didn't start till 4pm, and it only took 45 minutes to get there..... so we had some time to kill..... but a gal just can't sit around doing nothing right? And this desire for bright springy things came to mind... and..... well..........I just couldn't help myself!

Aren't these bright? And Springy? And Girly? And too girly for men to steal?

And I have NO idea what I want to make with them.... I just wanted them.

And since Wrangler Man came home with a CASE - a CASE - not just one bag of peanut butter M&M's I needed fabric to keep me away from the candy... that I made him hide, and closed my eyes while he walked to his office with that case of Peanut Butter Chocolate M&M's

( not that I could find them in his office, but seriously - could he not have found a better place?)

Oh Ya - and I got this cool black swirly fabric to add to my black and white collection that will be a quilt someday ..pile

Fabric Used This Week:                              9.5 yards

Fabric Used YTD:                                        231.49 Yards

Fabric Added this week:                             5 yards

Fabric Added YTD:                                   164.4 yards

Total Fabrics BUSTED:                             67.01 yards

Now off to sew!

To see other reports go to:

http://www.patchworktimes.com/

A few more Cool Quilts of Valor

This first

Quilt of Valor was made by Beryl over at http://berylthepearl.blogspot.com/ She says it was a Mystery Quilt from Leann at Persimmon Quilts. Beautiful!! I love the border on this!

This Second Quilt Camr from Curtis and Barb in Loveland. She has done a wonderful job. Look at all those Flying Geese!!

This Last Quilt of Valor comes from Melinda and the Quilters With Heart group. What an awesome group - they quilt together and make lots of quilts for many people. I love all the plaids on this one. Melinda is over at http://quiltninwilton.blogspot.com/

Thank you ALL So much!!!

Quilters Accountability

I think... I hope.... this is the week to get back to some of my to do lists. I find that listing them does help me get them done, but I also find that sometimes - I am a scatterbrain!

There has been a lot of activity around here this week, and I am ready for these people to move on to greener pastures, and leave mine alone.  Monday, I was quilting away and had a strange feeling that someone was watching me. Considering I live with animals - I knew that meant some gate hadn;t been closed and ... well... I was going to have to get to work.

But it wasn;t animals.... it was....

These fellas - but they were a lot closer. Needless to say I went out and talked with them, and 'splained very nicely, that they needed to GO AWAY!

Granted - their company - did have permission to be there, it was just that my personal living area was supposed to be bubbled out. Apparently communication is not a strong point !!

Then these things showed up yesterday. What are they? Seismic readers. We have cables going across our land and they drive between the cable and can pick up the sound waves. There is a crew in another truck taking readings, and apparently they can map our land underneath, to see where there is oil, gas and water.

Oh, and when these trucks do there little pounding jig - it feels like an earthquake, except not as scary, cuz they pound every 10 minutes.

And now - they should leave so I can get back to my quilting!

So for next week  - my to do list:
1. Orange Monochromatic Challenge. - I need to decide on a quilt to make and get started.
2. Quilt - A lot - I have a few customer quilts that have deadlines looming....
3. Make Purple Binding for my Purple Mono Quilt and think about putting it on.

To see what others are up to, or to join in go to
http://crossroadsquilts.wordpress.com/

Only this week - wait till Thursday - her computer is not being nice to her!

NorthWest Surburban Quilt guild

This quilt guild has been awesome!! They have sure helped cover a lot of Soldiers with Quilts of Valor, and this week is no exception!  The first 4 quilts were made by the NSQG in Illinois and quilted by Sue DiVarco of Suzie Q Quilts. 

The last one - the Log Cabin was made by one of Sue's customers. Thanks Sue for all you hard work too!

Now sit back and drool......

Hope you enjoyed them!!

Design Floor Monday

I have a feeling that I am just making it under the wire for Judy's Design Wall post (http://www.patchworktimes.com/) but today - that is probably just as well!

This is what was on my table this morning: This is UFO #4 - the number drawn for April. And I can tell you I now REMEMBER WHY it became a UFO!  Apparently these were like my sample blocks or something - I don't think ANY of them were the same size!!!

So - this was this morning....

And I thought - you know - if you don't finish this top today, I may NEVER do it - so get to work!. In between meeting with oil guys, then after swim practice, dog training, and the other swim practice... I came home.. fed the kids.... and Told Them to CLEAN UP....

And voila -

The top is now finished, it measures 56 x 66 - and I will hope to get a spurt of energy to get it quilted. But I have a couple of customer quilts I had better get to before they pick on me.

Go see what others have been working on at http://www.patchworktimes.com/

Stash Report and... some finishes!

Fabric Used this week :     .55 yard - I cut the binding for a jelly roll quilt, then pinned it to it so someone ( preferably NOT me) can bind it!!

Fabric Used YTD:      221.9 yards

Fabrics in this week:   0 Yards
Fabrics Added  YTD:   159.4 yards

Fabrics BUSTED:   62.51 yards

Altho not a lot of fabric was used this week, a lot of quilting got done, which made me happy!

This is a comfort quilt for our quilt guild. It was done as a block of the month - where a lot of people made the same block then turned them in, another gal put them into a top, and I quilted it, and cut the binding strips.... for the *next* person to bind..tee hee 

Here's a close up of the quilting.

I got the Red Jelly Roll Quilt quilted, and binding cut for it. I will be taking it to our May sew day, and letting some sweet quilter bind it.... 

I also got this Jelly roll Quilt quilted, I did lots of waves so it kind of looks like a waving flag.

 
And last but not least, I got the binding on Wrangler Mans quilt done. He is taking a leadership class this weekend for Shooting Sports in 4-H, and its pretty long, so I layed the quilt across the couch for him to see. He said - Wow I would love a quilt like that. Is it going to a soldier?  

I said - nope its for you... and he smiled, and then he did NOT offer me chocolate. He said NO ONE is to eat around *MY* quilt.

So I guess he liked it, he may keep me around *grin*

Too see other stash reports go to
http://www.patchworktimes.com/

A little Quilting done

I snuck in a little quilting so far.... This is a Quilt of Valor that is a string quilt. I took the blocks to some quilt shows, and to the American Legion, and had people sign them.

A gal in my guild put the top together. And now it is ready to be bound.

Then I snuck another one in there to quilt.... its for Wrangler Man, so I hope I get it bound before he sees it in my pile and puts the pressure on me... he is horrible at with holding chocolate from me... pure torture - it is!

Quilts of Valor Eye Candy

I loved being snowed in the house, I got to open the packages that came this weekend, and be immersed in quilts!! This first (above) Quilt of Valor was pieced by Rosemary, and quilted by Lois in Broomfield Colorado.

This Quilt of Valor was made by Jody and the Bingham Ladies fellowship in Nebraska! Beautiful ladies!!!

The quilt above and the three below were all made by Meredith in California, and Quilted by Ron in New Mexico.

Don't you just love the colors in this string Quilt?

One soldier in Denver chose one of Merediths quilts because he thought the colors would always keep him happy. I understand!

Sometimes I wonder where she shops for her fabrics?

Thank you all so much for continuing to support the soldiers!

Design Wall Monday

A lot got done this weekend, because - altho Saturday was gorgeous, the winds came up, and just so you know - riding horses with the sand blowing, is not as much fun as one mught think..... unless you were REALLY wishing for a sand facial....

And then Sunday - It snowed - awesome!!

So here is what's on my design floor. Just sewing the backings together now so I can quilt them!

 This is the Red Jelly Roll quilt from our sew day - I added two borders to it, and I have to say - I LOVE it!!!

It turned out to be 59 x 69 so I think that will defineatly work for a Quilt of Valor.

This was the one that was a little narrow - so I had some friendship star blocks left over from a quilt show - they are all signed, so I added those, and then,.....

I added those half string blocks - that were extras from another QOV project. It is now 58 x 68 ... perfect!


Alright - off to finish the backs and start a little quilting!!

To see others design walls go to
http://www.patchworktimes.com/

Stash report Sunday

 The fabric store started calling to my car again, and because a gal needs some exercise, I had to get out and walk a little.... can I help it if I walked right thru that fabric shop door???

Nope - It was totally NOT my fault!

So I found some flannels on sale!! And bought enough for 3 backings of the Jelly Roll Quilts that we made last weekend.

And then... becuase the color of the month is Orange, and I need to burn a few more calories, I had to wander over to see what oranges they might have.... and look!.... they did have some orange... surprise ( grin)


So my Stash report for this week:



Fabric Used this Week:                10.99 Yards  ( backings, borders,)
Fabric Used Year To Date:        221.36 Yards

Fabric Purchased this week:       11.9 Yards
Fabric Purchased YTD:               23.65 Yards
Fabric Donated:                         135.75 Yards

Total Fabrics BUSTED:               61.96  Yards ( whoo hoo still using more than what I bring in)

To check out what others are doing go to
Judys Stash report sunday

Quilts of Valor

First off the Stats for March:
Total Quilts of Valor presented for the month: 32 Quilts awarded

Now for some eye candy!!

This Red White and Blue one was made by Jan in my quilt guild, and she quilted it too!

This quilt was made by the late Al Lind, and quilted by Shar in Wiggins CO

This one, and the Three following it are made by Meredith in California.

She sends all her Quilts of Valor to Ron O in New Mexico to quilt.

Between the two of them - I wonder when they find time to eat !

Hope you enjoyed seeing some more Quilts of Valor! Thanks Quilters for all your hard work.I sure appreciate it, and I know the reciepients do. Sometimes more than words say!