The Betty Quilt.... in progress

Looky Looky Looky:

There is is .... on the machine.... oh Ya!!

And then I started quilting the Blocks

Oh yes - and I did Stitch in the Ditch to outline EVERY block

I am feeling a little crazy about that - 

but - I loved the definition

I used that Legacy Wool/Cotton batting

I left the packaging downstairs - but its the expensive one

( Someone found the receipt - oops)

And I am doing this swirly flower thing in the open blocks

Oh! And you can see the backing a little bit....

It was suggested that if I show it to you finished.... it should be bound

and quite possibly labeled...

My goal - seriously - is Friday!!!

Main Crush Monday

Design Wall Monday

Monday Making

Quilt Storys

Free Motion by the River

Quilt Fabrications - Mid week makers

Let's be social

Street Photography

This was interesting -
If you remember ( and if you don't - I'll tell you again  - No worries! )

I am in two different photo groups - Spring Break week - one of the groups said Street Photography, and last week ( ending today) Ricky Tims class was..... Street Photography!!

So that meant two weeks of going out of my comfort zone for me!

I first googled Vivian Maier - there is a Netflix video called "Finding Vivian Maier" and I loved it!! She was a street photographer and wow - so cool

....  Week One.....

I don't live on a street - and when I remembered we were going to Arizona - I thought - they have streets there! It will be awesome.... and then we got to there, and there was in the middle of nowhere.  Ha!  What to do!  One day we went into town and went in to Wickenburg. It's a pretty cool town, pretty westerny - but there were just spurts of people.  

I got lucky and got a spurt of people.....  and this was my shot:

The Statue guy on the left made me feel like I was just being a tourist - so I didn't scare people.  I had intended to get strangers... I might know two people in this photo (oops - don't tell)

Then This week:

I headed to town a couple of times to see what I could see.

This was my final submission image:

A large group of homeless folks, just hanging out together.

Now - I did Street Photography at my house as a test.... want to see my street?

Two men discussing breakfast

" I swear you ate Bacon Bob"

"I did not Phil.. Oatmeal - I was healthy!"

The Betty Quilt - a UFO Story

I have a confession to make.....

I .... Am.... a procrastinator.... yep - that's me!

And this - this is the Story of the Betty Quilt.

Betty is my Great Aunt - I loved her, but I loved her husband more - Capt. Doug. Capt. Doug was just about as cool of a guy as you could find back when I was a kid -  and quite frankly - Betty was about as cool of a girl as you could find!

They had this house off of Pontiac Lake in MI - that had everything!  I mean EVERYTHING - there was boat oars off of a rescue boat from WWII, there were propellers from planes that flew in WWII., there were these most awesome trunks full of everything cool....

And they had a house in Birmingham MI - that is now on the historical society list.  It was WAY cool.... but the coolest part - hanging out with them!  Betty gave my Mom a  Quilt for me.... okay - it may have been for her, but , well, I'm taller - I took it.  Betty and her sister made it in 1940.

When my Mom pulled that quilt out the both of us were quite taken, and I started doing a little research.  Come to find out there were a lot of quilts that her family had made - and all of them had been donated to the Michigan State Quilt Museum.... and there were pictures of them Online!!!

I fell in love with one particular one and set about recreating it...

This is her quilt - as seen on the website - and I love it!

I loved everything about it - and for those of you who wonder where my love of plaid came from.... I think this may be it!!

I headed to the fabric shop ( Because YES! I started this long before plaid miraculously appeared on my Doorstep)

and started in 

Here were my first few blocks

And then I wanted to see them all - so I overtook the window curtain.

 My man has since gotten smarter - he made me a design wall.

He saw how the quilting thing was going to take over the whole front room.....









And then.....  I wanted to add the in between pieces - I am sure they have a technical name - but lets just go with "In Betweens"

I LOVED how it was coming together.... and I kept working, and plodding....

And now.....

It is a top

AND!!  sit down for this....

It has a back AND!!!! It is loaded on the machine - so that hopefully on Monday I can show you a quilted Betty Quilt.......

please do not ask when Betty was started - I will plead the 5th!!!



linking to:
TGIFF          Confessions of a fabric Addict        fabric frenzy friday
WIPs be gone         

Arizona... and the desert

Last week was Spring Break and we took a little 4 day trip to Arizona.... and I took about 480 pictures - so.... you know that you will have to endure a lot right????  

We flew in Early in the Morning - like seriously - still dark outside and got to AZ at 7am - that is like the BEST way to enjoy a whole day.  We were exhausted by bedtime - ....

We only did *personal items* so we didn't have to check a bag - 

shew that makes it easy to get out of the airport - and out to the Palm Trees!!!

We loved them!!

Then we got to Wrangler Man's Parents house - 

this!! THIS!! is right out their window 

How cool is that?

They took us to a lake- I don't remember the name - but it was cool.

You are driving along in the desert and there are a gazillion cactus'  ( or Cacti) 

and Javalinas, and wild burros and its all deserty - and then 

Bam!!

There's a Lake!

We hiked around, and then went to the Marina-

I found a boat - it was only $495,000.00  

my Father in law wouldn't buy it for me ;-(

We then went to the other side to have a picnic.

I just loved this Cactus' Hill

I like how dramatic it is in Black and White

My Mother in Law tells us about these Jumping Cactus - and how the needles just go everywhere 

( she was right btw) but WM didn't quite believe - so he takes off up this hill - and look at him - torturing his poor mom..... while she is saying "Do not touch!"

What's that - Once a Mom , Always a Mom?

He came back with a spine in his socks - 

Don't mock the Mom - Man!!

That evening we took a walk by their house - 

This may not be the most in focus photo - 

but oh man - the Colors just floored me!!

It was just beautiful....

but wait.... There is more!!  ( spoken like an infomercial)

This is only Day one - and his mom took us lots of great places!!!

Quilts of Valor 2016

I might have forgot to set my alarm this morning.... oops.....

So hopefully you are still up and browsing blogs and will get to see all of these Lovely Quilts of Valor!!

Couple of Questions from the previous shows:
*I thought they all had to be Red White and Blue?

No they don't - however in my experience - 90% of the Veterans touched by War woudl prefer RW&B.  Feminine ones take longer to find their forever home.

*Do you make all of these?

Oh My Goodness- could you imagine how much more fabric I could buy?  I put the names o the maker and the quilter right next to each quilt - that is who did them.

* can you link to the patterns?

nope - If I know what they are I will state it under the quilt, but, um, no - I can not search out each pattern for you - my bucket list would be a gazillion quilts long, and I might spend too much $$  - and then my husband would kick me out, and I would have to take turns living with each of you for a week, and play with your fabrics......

The quilt on the left was made by Courtney and quilted by Connie

The Quilt on the right was made by Kristi and quilted by Crystal

Both of these quilts ( above) were made by Carol and quilted by Kathy and Sue

The quilt on the left - made by Anonymous - there is no label, and no one attached a paper to it before handing it off.....in my mind - I'll take the credit Ha ha! Just kidding - it is beautiful though!

And on the right - Made by Debrah, quitled by Dawna, Bound by Diana

Left: Debrah, quilted by Dawna, bound by Diana

and on the right - Made by Mary Ann g - Quilted by Rosalie M

Both of these were made by Anonymous

On the Left - Anonymous Strikes again

and on the right - made by Mary Beth, and quilted by Cheryl

Now - this pattern I do know - it is the Not So Top Secret Project

It was a step by Step quilt - and is still listed under Free Pattern

http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/p/free-quilt-patterns.html

Alright you all - Go forth and Quilt!

I am going to Go Forth - walk the dogs and then quilt!

I cooked

If you know me well, you know that cooking is just not my favorite thing in the world..... Yes - I can do it, and Yes we do eat pretty healthy, its just EVERY DAY you have to feed people!

I got a book a few years ago called "Cook for a Day, Eat for a Month".   And I followed the rules and it was great...... and then I forgot about it.

I was cleaning ( I know - you can gasp now!!) and found it again, and thought - wow - we really liked having meals prepared and ready for us... it freed me to work with the horses, help WM do some roping, and.... sadly... meant that I could say - Yes, I can help you do chores.....   We didn't remind anyone of that part...just sayin'

We went on a quick spring break , and came home Friday. Little Bit and I hit the market ( okay Sam's Club) to get the rest of what we needed - and started cooking.

I had 2 hours Friday night, 2 hours Saturday Morning, and 5 hours Sunday - I think that combined made a day..... and at the end.... I have 32 Freezer meals!  ( and had Sunday Dinner all finished)

Do I look like a chef?  Ha ha - I know... I still get the giggles over it - but that is Spaghetti, Ziti, Lasagna, Mexi Chicken, Broccoli Chicken, Scalloped Potatoes with ham, Meatballs, Tater Tot Casserole, Broccoli Ham Casserole,   and Chicken Soup...

Which frees me for this:

and to torture this child 

Mystery Quilts

Many of you may know - that I am the new co-moderator of the Yahoo group - Mystery Quilts 4 Military  ( Click here to get there) 

We recently finished another mystery quilt!

Would you like to see it????

 I had a box of blues, so I decided it was time to work through it..... unfortuneatly - I didn't get all the way through it..... but I did use a lot on the back ( of course - no photo of that)

I am not sure when the next mystery will start - but you should join us

It;s fun!

Oh look - there's my man

He says "Get to work"

But Rojo the horse says nope - Go quilt!!!

Ha ha

Linking to:

PatchworkTimes                              Cooking Up Quilts               Love Laugh Quilt

Moving it Forward

The Desert

So.... we might have headed south for Spring Break.... but! Never fear  - I took my photo challenges with me!

This week was a composite image - and I had so many ideas in mind.  I did not have a computer with me on our trip ( nor did I have wi-fi, or cell coverage, but that's another story)  so I was just hoping and praying that my minds eye would correspond with my Camera eye.

I think..... that maybe it did!

I had this idea to composite a Desert Sunset with the texture from the Stirrup Leathers of my husbands saddle.   I think I like it!

by the way, we left 70 degree weather and came back to 23... it was not nice ( and has since warmed up a bit - but that was mean)

Faux Geese Scrappy is ready for flight!

There is a little bit of a flying happy dance going on around here!! My Flying Faux Geese quilt is completely finished - and ready to fly off to a new home.... hopefully!


Are you ready???

It has lots of fun swirlys on it!!

I bound it in tan stripy plaid

and my plaid bin didn't even miss it!!

Check out the fun back!!!

I am listing it in my Etsy Store

Alycia QuiltyGirl

Keep your fingers crossed!!

Linked to:

Fabric Frenzy Friday

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

TGI Friday

Crazy Mom Quilts

Whomp There it is

Oh Scrap

Honor Flight Quilt

Twice a year Honor Flight Northern Colorado sends 120 Veterans to Washington DC - and when they return, they are honored even more with a Quilt of Valor/Honor Flight Quilt.

Gypsy Quilter  - who blogs at Gypsy Quilter Designs  sent me some amazing tops to use for this event.. This is one of her tops - all quilted up!

I used a Baptist Fan on it:

Isn't that a fun quilt?

I used a red stars on the back ( which of course I forgot to photograph)

and will include red binding - and off to the binders it will go!!

Thanks Gypsy Quilter ( and Dolly!!!)