{Post #954} What's on my Bed?

I'm a day late, but Bonnie Hunter is having a "What's on Your Bed?" linky party.  Here is my current bed dressing...

This was taken before quilting and matching pillow shams.  I can't find a picture with those.  I love this design and the graphic rows.  


~Joan

{Post #866} Sewing Room Happenings

Once Susie twisted my arm and dragged me into the sewing room (ahem), I started on some pillow shams to match this quilt that is currently on my bed.  I had this boxful of leftover pieces...

So I started sewing and sewing.  I had 4 strips going, two of each direction.  I sewed from the time Maria arrived at the mansion until they escaped from the Germans (wasn't the wedding beautiful).  The hills are alive, with the sound of sewing.

But I digress.  I also was moving forward on another quilt I'm piecing via leaders/enders.  Here is a picture of many of them, grouped by tens and held together with safety pins.  They finish at 1" x 2".  Project picture to come later.

I was just a rollin' along on my Texas Braid strips.  Here is one finished on the cutting table, ready to be trimmed down.

Then a few chops later, I haphazardly put these on the already overburdened design wall.

Do you even SEE them?  I have the well-developed ability to tune things out, but it takes regular upkeep and plenty of practice, Practice, PRACTICE!  After I cut up the 4 strips, I needed two more pieces, one of each direction!  Ack!!  That does mean more tiny flying geese (I might call them goslings, they are so small) to come!  I had to dig these out of the trash can (one for each direction) to have a starter for my next sewing session.

I don't have a pattern for the shams.  But I always have a plan.  I am making shams for standard sized pillow forms.  I am going to make them with 5 Texas Braid strips across, which = 30".  Then I'm adding the red of the center squares in a 4" border and quilting those.  Then I'm going to make backings that are two pieces that over lap and are Velcroed in the middle (that way they can be easily removed for washing).  I will run a seam along the edge of the red so the pillow doesn't slip around, but will have a nice edge.  That's my plan and I'm stickin' with it (unless I need to change it!).

The not-so-surprising part is that my box is still so full of pieces for this quilt!  I may have to crank out a baby quilt to use them up.  I can't stand having a project just hang around like a piece of gum on the bottom of a shoe!

Going to read a while then hit the hay!

~Joan

Binding On and Pepper...Again

I started sewing my binding down by machine.  I found myself with a couple free hours and decided that would be the fastest way to finish this up.  I stitched about 20 inches of it and decided hand sewing is best.  I have nearly one side finished (the top edge in the picture above).

Two of my boys held it up for me.  There isn't a lot of empty space in my kitchen, but I was able to get a fairly decent picture.  I was off to the right a little, so it looks like the quilt is not squared up, but it is.  Trust me!

Took this little sweetie pie for a walk around the block.  Took Isaac, too.  Pepper is becoming more animated and curious...very puppyish.  Sooooo cute.

Everyone is taking such good care of her.  She seems to like her house...what puppy wouldn't like such a well-constructed mini palace?

~Joan

Machine Quilting Finished on Texas Braid

Just took my Texas Braid off the quilt frame, and it looks great!  Earlier this evening, I sewed the binding strips end-to-end, and Rachel agreed to iron them for me (for a price, hee hee). 

So tomorrow I will trim this down and sew the binding on to the front.  I hope to have it on our bed within the week.  BP (before puppy) I probably could have hoped for a couple days of hand stitching time for the binding, but who knows now?  Pepper might be a hindrance to my quilting...only time will tell.

~Joan

{702} Quilting the Texas Braid

Today has been a most unusual day.  I went to the Y by myself this AM and walked over a mile on the treadmill.  I was very excited about that, because in the past I could not walk more than 5 minutes.  Yes--I tell the truth.  Then I did the FitLinxx machines.

When I got home, my son texted me to ask if I wanted to play wallyball with him and some friends at 3:00 PM.  I invited a couple girlfriends so I would not be the only girl there. 

While waiting to play, I loaded and started quilting this big quilt...Texas Braid.  I like it so much.  It looks like an antique quilt without needing any repairs!!

I only did two passes on it.  I'm quilting it with loops. 

We ended up playing wallyball for THREE hours.  Yes.  Also true.  My little toes are screaming as well as my knees.  I went down on my knees about ten times to save a point or whatever, forgetting each new time that I was NOT wearing knee pads.  Amnesia in the elderly...need to be doing some medical research into that subject.  It was soooo fun.  I'd definitely like to do that again, and soon.

There's no business like sew business!

~Joan

Judson's Baby Quilt

I started chronicling the progress of this on my secret blog (email me if you want the URL), but I don't think the family I made it for reads my blog.  I will be delivering this tomorrow.  I like it a lot.  It measures about 36" square, which is the size I like to make newborn baby quilts.

This was two rows I removed from my Texas Braid quilt, cut into thirds and reattached side by side.  Quickest piecing I ever did for a baby quilt!!

~Joan

Another Quilt Finished On The Handi-Quilter

Advice to self...don't buy 30 pounds of ground beef at one time again.  Ever.  I mean it.

On my way home from the Y, I stopped to get a few items at a locally owned grocer.  They had 85% lean ground beef for $1.50 a pound.  It was only good for another couple days.  So I declared today beef day.  Several of the kids helped me off and on, especially Rachel.

So I fed the freezer with semi-prepared meals...9 batches of Salisbury steak (I grill these on my contact grill, so I just mixed them and formed them into burger shapes), ten pounds of BBQ meatballs (shaped and ready to bake after adding sauce), 6 pounds of porcupine meatballs, and 10 pounds of browned burger for sloppy joes, spaghetti, chili, etc.

Made home-made chicken fried steak (from cube steak), mashed potatoes, and milk gravy for lunch.  It.  was.  perfect.

Susanna pinned her rail fence quilt on the Handi-Quilter frame, and I quilted the whole thing after 4:00, off and on.  I did loops and hearts.  It is adorable.  It's twin-bed size.  She used up all my '30's scraps.  The back is pieced.  I will get some pics later.  My camera died today.  I do mean completely dead.  Just last night my husband asked if I wanted him to buy me a new camera.  I told him I didn't want him to spend the money on me...mine was working just fine.  That was, until it died this AM.  He said my new one should be here in a couple days :)

Going to go read for a little while then collapse.

Will be quilting the Texas Braid soon!!

~Joan

Texas Braid Photo Shoot

This is my Texas Braid after the row-ectomy.  There is enough at the top for a pillow tuck, my preferred way of bed-making.

I am in no hurry to finish this, especially with all the secret projects going on.  There is just not enough sewing time in a day!

You can see my quilt frame to the right in the picture.  The leaders (what the quilt is pinned to) are hanging down...they are made of muslin.

~Joan 

Texas Braid on Deck

This is the same picture I used in an earlier post.  Posts w/o pics are not very fun to read, are they?  I laid this lovely number on my bed today in anticipation of quilting it.  It ended up being two rows too wide.  Too wide as in it hung down too far on both sides of the bed.  Too wide as in it would not fit on my quilt frame.  Too wide as in...well, you get the picture.

Rachel graciously offered her assistance in removing two rows.  I think I'll chop those 110" long rows into smaller pieces and make a baby quilt.  I have another 30-some" row that I can add to it.

Anyway...I am debating with myself about how to quilt it.  Because of the orientation of the rows, I cannot quilt it the way I want on my frame.  I am considering basting it on the frame with the HQ and then using my domestic machine to quilt it.  Yes.  Sounds crazy, doesn't it?  That way the layers won't shift.  It will save my back.  I enjoy free motion quilting on my domestic machine.

I'll fill you in on the details later.

I accomplished a little work on another (two) secret projects tonight before leaving for church.  Check out my secret blog.  If you don't know the page, email me for it.

~Joan

Snow and Snowball Runner

Yes, we got tons of snow. Here is my little birdfeeder outside my sewing room window. Strange phenomenon today...usually birds of a feather flock together. That is, I have rarely seen more than one species of bird at the feeder at a time...today was different! I saw five different types at once on it with another on the hook waiting for an opening. The snow must have covered a lot of the available food for the little feathered creatures. Glad I got a big bag of bird food at Aldi's last week. Looks like it might come in handy.

My hopeful machine quilting plan for the baby quilt never happened. I got it pin basted today. But I can't find the thread. It is a light lime green. I have a spool of machine quilting thread that color (imagine!) but I can't find it.

I really like this snowball runner. I didn't get pictures yet of my other two runner finishes, but I'm showing this one again. Some day I'll make a whole quilt of this size "ball". I like the way these turn out looking round. I've seen some with corner triangles that are too big and make the balls look strange to me. Next time, no matching corners. And half light and half dark, just to mix it up! The blocks finish at 3-3/4" square, so this is about 11-1/2" x 34" I'm heading upstairs to put it on our sideboard.
In other piecing news, I am working on my last two rows for the Texas Braid quilt. I still have not received the promised bricks from Arizona, and I'm going to wait for them. I was so disappointed that I could not find my quilting thread that I wanted to sew on something for a little bit, so I worked on the Texas Braid. I love working on it...so easy and striking of a design.

Another day of being snowed in tomorrow. We have a house guest tonight. One of the young men who attends college with my daughters also works at the same restaurant as one of them. The roads were too dangerous for him to get back to the dorm, so he is staying overnight here. Interesting turn of events.

~Joan

View of All of the Texas Braid So Far

But first, a picture of my morning view. This is the YMCA I frequent nearly every morning (except Sundays...yeah!!). I am always glad I went...later. This AM I increased the weight on 3 of my machines. It's amazing how much of a difference five pounds makes.

Once school was underway, I had two of my boys hold up the Texas Braid so you could get a peek at the whole thing. It's 98" long, so about 1/3 of it is draped over the back of the design wall in all my other pictures. I like how the occasional really dark or light brick makes the top seem to sparkle, but the red cornerstones down the middle of each row gives the eye a place to rest.

Calling to order a Handi-Quilter now. Yippee!!

~Joan

11/16 of The Way There, and Then Some

Here is my Texas Braid, 11 rows completely finished, and a couple partial rows in the works. This has been fun to work on. I highly recommend Bonnie Hunter's book, Adventures with Leaders and Enders. This has been one of the easiest quilts to make ever. Not one pin used in the construction, which proves that careful cutting and proper pressing ensure a nice, flat quilt top. Tomorrow I am going to machine baste around the top and bottom edges of the quilt. Every edge is bias!

In the pic above, the quilt hangs down behind my design wall about another 48" or so.

Will likely be ordering a Handi-Quilter tomorrow!! Good times!

~Joan

Eight Rows Strong...Halfway There

Half finished! I cut up a bunch of scraps instead of sewing more this afternoon. It was difficult to do what I should instead of what I wanted to do, but I'm glad now. I cut up small pieces that had to be pressed heavily first, so it was time-consuming, but they are gone for good from my scrap box now. I plan to just cut some more tomorrow if I have time.

Our Christmas Eve and Day holiday will be laid back, so there won't be a lot to do, but I want to spend time with my family while we're off school and my wonderful husband is off work.

There is a possibility that I might be getting a Handi-Quilter machine soon. I can barely stand to think about it for the excitement!! Calm down, calm down, calm down...Some have asked how the sign language interpreting went last night. I was pleasantly pleased with the ease in which it "came back". It's been a couple years since I've signed anything to a deaf person (I occasionally sign to a child across the building at church or whatever). My husband said he was proud of me, so that's all I needed to hear. The deaf man was very pleasant and expresssive. He said I was a wonderful interpreter, so I was happy.

The above picture is the sign for interpreter, by the way.

Off to practice a song my family is singing for Sunday.

~Joan

Seven Rows Now

One good thing about my mess-up on Monday is that when I finished piecing a row today, I could add TWO rows without any more sewing!

My goal for this quilt is to have 16 rows wide. I am nearly halfway there!

Here is my Texas Braid with seven rows. Only nine more to go. I will cut some more bricks when I get back from errands. I have some clear shoe boxes that I keep small scraps in. Since the acquisition of my sister's stash (nearly 600 yards), those boxes are overflowing. I must deplete them a little this afternoon if there is time. I want to start cutting fabrics for a "tumbler" quilt, which I've always thought of as a thimble quilt. The shape of the pieces reminds me of thimbles. I want it scrappy (what else?), so this is a good opportunity to cut out a bunch of unique pieces for that.


Isn't it strange how entirely different people's lives are from each other's? My errands are going to be picking up 7 fifty-pound bags of wheat berries, taking my daughter to take her driver's license test, and preparing to interpret our Christmas service at church tonight for a deaf man. How are you spending YOUR day?

~Joan

How the Mighty Have Fallen

I was so proud of my sewing efforts today. It's been a packed day with doing my thing at the Y, visiting 5 different stores, mailing off my flannel quilt to be machine quilted, planning a get-together for 30 for tomorrow night (at my house), etc., etc. That was all before lunch!

It's my laundry day, so I planned to sew while processing that. I was pushing myself along, and was so happy to get another braid row finished. When I went to sew it to the rest of the top, I realized I made the "wrong" row. There are two types of braids in the quilt. I had hung my top upside down on the design wall and didn't realize it until I went to line up the new row. Oh, well...I will use it after I piece one of the "right" ones!

~Joan

Watch It Grow...

I added another row to the Texas Braid this morning. Last night was an unusual night. I went to bed when the family started watching a movie. I felt horrible...dizzy, nauseated. But I feel fine today.

Emily drove down to FL yesterday to surprise Steve. Steve was driving up here starting at 8:30 PM and bringing my oldest son home as well. So they arrived here about 7:15 this AM. They were all exhausted, so they all went to bed. I woke up four people to see if anyone wanted to go to the YMCA with me and got no takers.

So now I'm back from the Y and sewing some more. It's SNOWING!! Snow always looks so peaceful and lovely floating down.

~Joan

Texas Braid - Another Six Inches Wider

I added one more vertical row to the Texas Braid. There is a ton of sewing involved in finishing even one row. The red squares are added to the cream bricks, then either a color or a cream/red unit is added and added, and added until you have 51 red cornerstones in a row. Then there is the trimming.

I cut lots more bricks from my scraps this afternoon and finished this row and nearly one more. The one more is the wrong one to add to either side, so it might be a while before I get the "right" one finished. There will be 16 rows in the final quilt.

For you non-quilters, the red blocks are the center of each row. There are four rows in the above picture.

~Joan

Texas Braid Beginning

I was able to squeeze in a little piecing time tonight. Isaac offered to help me press, and that always makes things go faster. Here we are, with him to the left of the ironing board and me to the right at the sewing machine. It was still daylight when we started. What are we making??

We are making this...Texas Braid sections. This is from Bonnie Hunter's book, Adventures with Leaders & Enders. I have decided to limit my piecing time to this project until it's a finished top. You can stop laughing now.

This picture is a close up.

Here's one a little further out. Guess how many pins I used for the piecing and putting the rows together? See the end of the post for the answer.

And finally, all of it. Well, at least as much as you can see on my five-foot high design wall. I folded the top down (that makes it sound fun, like a convertible!!). The pieces are over 100 inches long, so folded they must be.

Zero. That is how many pins I used. When you assemble the sections, you press the pieces in such a way that you need not one pin to sew the rows to each other. Ta da!!

~Joan

Sew Many Things To Do

I have had questions about the blocks on my spool quilt that seem to disappear. They both happen to be pink. Here is the first one. There is very little contrast between the spool and the background. I think it adds a little more charm to the quilt.

Here is the second one. Again--a very low contrast of fabrics.

And, sew far, so good. I have turned the corner and am just adding length now. When I snapped the pic, the top two corners fell back (no assistants today). That is the top "square" edge of the quilt. I know how many more blocks I have, just need to figure out how many more I need. Who ever said math was not useful on a daily basis? Not a home schooling mom, that's for sure.

Do you see my two pink disappearing blocks in the body of the quilt?

Last, but not least, is the Texas Braid row I added to while putting the spool quilt blocks together. One more spool, one more braid strip, one more spool, etc. Makes both projects go faster than clipping the threads after every new spool block was added to the row. The braid is about 88" long. Needs a few more strips to be complete.

Tomorrow AM is our adult Sunday school snack Sunday. I am making two pans of home made cinnamon rolls and a mini chocolate chip cake to take. I need to run Luke to work, then home to bake, exercise, and shower. That should make the day complete, I think.

Have a good evening.

~Joan

What on Yonder Design Wall Do I See?

I was just sitting down in the sewing room, waiting for my clothes to dry, when I decided to start sewing a Texas Braid quilt from Bonnie Hunter's new book, "Adventures with Leaders & Enders". Truth be told, I had been cutting "bricks" as she calls them. Two-inch by five-inch rectangles. They were for this project, but I wasn't going to start them for a while. I had spools to sew, by cracky. Once the newly cut spool blocks were pieced, I just put a few braid pieces together. Wow--those clothes sure took a long time to dry! (insert sound track of evil chuckle). My clothes finally dried, but then I had to wait up for my two Chick-fil-A closers to get safely home.

I laid out another spool quilt row. I've decided to make this queen-bed size...MY queen-sized bed. I want to add a border like Elaine's. My Australian blocks did not arrive today. Another day of straining my ears listening for the U. S. Post Office jeep tomorrow.


Here's a close-up of the braid. I have many projects going now. I need to finish another one. Hmmm...which will it be? This pattern used to be free on Bonnie's site, but now it's in her book. Her books are so "her"...light, fun, colorful, and easy to follow!! How's that for a plug, my friend??

Another somewhat-of-a-finish today...I finished piecing my Bull's Eye Quilt. Put borders on and pieced a backing. My sweet Susie said she'd pin baste it for me, so I'll get some pictures soon.

It is now officially tomorrow, so I'm going to bed.

Good night!

~Joan