All Sizes...

Just as people come in all different sizes, apparently cats do too. 

Jack and David squirrel watching

I would love to get a picture of all 4 of the cats together (they're really all different sizes), but I don't see them ever being that cooperative.  Jack (on the right) is 12.5 lbs and David (on the right) is currently 22 lbs!

FYI - Sunday, June 12th was the 2 year anniversary of my blogging.  I'm planning to have a giveaway to celebrate, but need a few days to get it together.  So check back soon!

Until later...

So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.

Deuteronomy 31:6 (NLT)

Stash Report Week #23...

June 4 - 10, 2011

So another stash report, another week further in the red.  I'm not feeling too much angst over it though.  I've generally only been purchasing fabric for specific projects and getting it on sale as well.

Last week I heard some advice a lady who had recently retired offered to fellow quilters.  She said she wished she had bought more fabric when she was working because now she doesn't have the money for it.  She also doesn't have a large stash so she's finding it difficult to continue quilting.  I don't think running out of fabric is going to be a problem for me, but I find that I'm much more likely to buy fabric if I can get it on sale.  (I'm all about a good sale!)

This week I ordered enough fabric for a backing to one of the king-size quilts I have planned.  Fabric Depot was having 35% off their Moda fabrics and I purchased 13.5 yards of Buttercup fabric by Fig Tree Quilts.  It's already been washed and pressed and added to the project box.

13.5 yards of Buttercup by Fig Tree Quilts

I also bought 1.5 yards of backing fabric for Star Crossed - the Twister top I just finished.  I love the movement in this otherwise black fabric!

1.5 yards Backing for Star Crossed

And finally, I have a finish this week as well.  Star Crossed is at the topper stage now.  I used 2.5 yards of fabric for this quilt.  (You can see pictures of the quilt in my last post.)

So...
Purchased-this-week: 15 yards
Used-this-week: 2.5 yards
Purchased-to-date: 138 yards
Used-to-date: 72 yards
Net used: -66 yards

Here's another picture of David I took in my sewing room.  He was walking towards the camera when I snapped it.  I can't quite figure out what his expression means.

David

Until later...

Live in harmony with each other. Don't be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don't think you know it all! 

Romans 12:16 (NLT)

Twister top done!

Finally, I've finished something.  I spent a good part of the day in my sewing room, where I managed to not only finish cutting out the blocks for the Twister quilt, but also managed to get them sewn together. 

But before I show a picture of it, I had several people ask me how much fabric was left over after cutting out the Twister blocks.  I took some pictures and measurements so I could more accurately answer that.  Here, I've laid the template on the fabric ready to cut out the next block...

Template positioned and ready to cut

You can see the white square in the upper left hand corner.  That's really all that's salvageable after cutting out the blocks.  Here's a better picture of what's left...

Fabric left over after cutting blocks

If you're careful cutting around the template (meaning you don't cut much past each edge), you might be able to save a 2.5" square of fabric for your scrap pile.  However, I no longer save anything smaller than a 5" square or 2.5" x 12" strip because I know I won't use it.

So I finished cutting out all 100 blocks and sewed them back together.   Before cutting out the blocks, my initial topper was 46" square.  After cutting out the blocks and sewing them together, it was 30.5" square or 33% smaller.  The directions said to expect it to be 1/4 to 1/3 smaller, so that's right on. 

Twister blocks sewn together

I added a 3.5" border to each side to get my finished top.  It is now 37" square.

Completed Twister Top

Now all that's left is to quilt it.  Ha!  That's usually the step that takes me the longest.  Not the actually quilting, but just deciding how to quilt it and making myself do it!  I've already got the batting and backing prepped, so any suggestions on how to quilt it???

I just want to add a few thoughts about the Twister template and pattern.  First, several people have complained that the template was too high for their rotary cutter to cut around.  I have a 45mm Olfa Deluxe Rotary Cutter and didn't have any problems.

Second, before cutting these blocks, you need to make sure you have room to move around the template.  I used a small cutting mat on top of my ironing board so I could move around the board to cut each block.  Third, I understand there's a larger Twister template that uses 10" squares and will give you a much larger block.  The smaller one creates blocks that are 3" finished.  I like how the quilt turned out, but it was a lot of cutting, sewing, cutting and sewing to make a fairly small quilt.  And it's a bit monotonous.  Just being truthful here.

Finally, I've decided to rename this quilt.  From now on, I'm going to call it 'Star Crossed'.  Once it's quilted and I've finished painting my quilting room, it's going to hang in there.  I'm also making a lap size quilt for the sofa in there out of the same fabrics.  I'm planning to use the "Over and Under" pattern from the book Scrap Basket Sensations by Kim Brackett.  I'll change up the size of the blocks and the layout a little bit though.  I'd love to get started on it right away, but need to finish a couple of other things first.

The other day, I caught David napping on top of this credenza.  It's as if he was walking across it and suddenly decided he had to take a nap. 

David Napping

Until later...

“Encourage anyone who feels left out, help all who are weak, and be patient with everyone.”  

1 Thessalonians 5:14 (CEV)

300 miles and an anniversary (of sorts)...

Yesterday I hit 300 miles on the stationary bike.  Not only that, but I've ridden the last 100 miles since April 25th - a little over 6 weeks.

300 miles on the stationary bike

The timing of this is important to me because 10 years ago (almost to the day), I was in the hospital suffering from debilitating seizures.  At the time, I didn't know if I would recover from or even survive them.  And when I eventually went home, I was ill for several years and simple tasks became almost impossible.  I needed assistance, a cane and eventually a walker to get from one side of the house to the other.

So to see how far I've come, it's nothing short of a miracle.  And all of the glory goes to God!  For healing me, for saving me, for loving me and for bringing me through the most difficult time in my life.

Until later...

Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does. 

1 Chronicles 16:24 (NLT)

Lovely Saturday...

After what feels like a long drought in my quilting, I spent half a day in my sewing room last Saturday.  I popped some movies in the DVD player and puttered around on several projects.  It reminded me why I call my sewing room "my happy place".

I was finally able to complete step 1 for my Twister quilt.  That entailed sewing 81 - 5" squares together and adding a 3" border.

Step 1 of Twister quilt

Then I took a break from that quilt to make some blocks for a charity quilt.  I neglected to take pictures, but made 32 - 4-patches using 30's fabric.  It was a quick project and I know will go to a good cause.

After cleaning up my mess, I decided to go back to working on the Twister quilt.  The next step is to cut out the Twister blocks using the special template.  I'll end up with 100 different 3.5" blocks from my little topper when I'm through.  It's not hard to do, but is a little time consuming.  First, I line up the template on the seam lines and then cut out around it.

Twister template lined up

Here's one of the blocks cut out and the space it leaves behind.

First Twister block cut out and labeled

I was very careful to label each block so that I'm sure I have it in the correct place and with the right side up.  I managed to cut out about half of them before stopping.  Like I said, it's not hard, but does take a while.

First 50 blocks - half way done!

I still had some time before I needed to start dinner (I had company coming over), so I took a couple more passes on Man Cave.  I'm about half way done with it now.  I've been having lots of issues with my neck lately and quilting a pantograph just aggravates it.  I have to keep my head bent to the side so I can really see the lines I'm following, so it's slow going on this one.  I'm going out of town next week and would love to have it quilted by then, but it will all depend on how my neck holds up.  Speaking of which, it's giving me a lot of problems right now, so I'm going to end this and go put a pain patch on it.

Until later...

There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 

1 Corinthians 12:5 (NLT)

Stash Report Week #22...

May 28 - June 3, 2011

Lucky me!  I celebrated a birthday last weekend and got lots of luscious fabric as gifts!  I'm going to count it in my stash report this week even though I didn't pay a dime for any of it. 

For those of you who know me, you know I love charm packs.  I don't know what it is about those little packs of fabric, but I just love collecting them.  Perhaps it's because I can get a snippet of an entire fabric line without breaking the bank.  In any case, I got 12 charm packs for my birthday.  Half of them are Strawberry Fields by Fig Tree Quilts and the other half are Lilac Hill by Brannock & Patek.  For those of you doing Bunny Hill's free BOM "Henrietta Whiskers", she's using Lilac Hill in her version.

Strawberry Fields and Lilac Hill Charm Packs

I also got a layer cake (10" squares) of Just Wing It! by MoMo.  It's not my usual fabric choice, but I'm finding myself drawn more lately to modern fabrics.  I think this fabric will make a bright and cheerful quilt.  I'm leaning towards making a Paintbox Quilt with it, but there are lots of other patterns I'd like to make as well.

Just Wing It! by MoMo

Last but not least, I also got a Fat Quarter Bundle of Aviary 2 by Joel Dewberry.  I have to be honest and say that I didn't expect the yellow to be quite so bright on this fabric.  I like the cream, gray and black in it, but I'm not in love with the yellow.  However, I still think it will make a striking wall hanging.  I'll have to think about this one a while though.

Aviary 2 by Joel Dewberry

My very sweet mother-in-law gave me a gift card to JoAnn's and I found several very good books there.  I bought The Dressmakers Handbook of Couture Sewing Techniques, Scrap-Basket Sensations and Redwork Winter Twitterings (and all for 40% off).  There are so many patterns in Scrap-Basket Sensations that I would love to make.  In fact, I think I'm going to use one of them to make a lap-quilt for my sewing room.

Books from Jo-Ann

So...
Purchased-this-week: 13.75 yards
Used-this-week: 0 yards
Purchased-to-date: 123 yards
Used-to-date: 69.5 yards
Net used: -53.5 yards

I also managed to get some pictures of Moses lounging in the box all this fabric came in.  She looks like she's laughing in the first one...

Until later...

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 

1 Timothy 2:1 (NLT)

New Ironing Board...

I just celebrated another birthday this past weekend (#37) and my wonderful husband made me a new ironing board as part of my present.  I'm am so blessed to have a husband who is so handy! 

My new ironing board

This new board is a very generous 24" wide and 66" long.  I can now iron all of my fabrics with ease and still have room to rest my iron.  But more importantly, this board is stable.  I've gone through half a dozen irons in the last couple of years because my cats would tilt the ironing board and the irons would fall off and break.  Even now my expensive Rowenta iron has developed a leak because David did that.

I covered it in a fabric that will match the eventual new color scheme in there.  I'm hoping to start painting the room and all the shelving this month, but it'll take a while to complete.  The base of the ironing board is made of PVC pipe that was sanded and then painted with a white lacquer.  I've already ironed a few things on it and I just love it!

While Mr. Quilting Bug was making the final adjustments, David decided to check it (and him) out.

Whatcha doing Dad?

Even with all his tremendous weight, he couldn't budge it.  Then Gabriel wanted in on the action too...

Hey dad, I want some too!

I'm really loving how this room is coming together.   It's always just been a hodgepodge of furniture and items with no coordinating color scheme, but that's changing.  I've organized the whole room and it's just so much nicer going in there to sew.  I know I'm going to enjoy it even more once it's completed - although that's still months away. 

Thank you to my dear sweet husband for my beautiful and completely functional gift! 

Until later...

How amazing are the deeds of the Lord! All who delight in him should ponder them. 

Psalm 111:2 (NLT)