{Post 1,494} Arizona Trip

My husband, 15- (then 16) year-old son, and I went to Arizona to meet our newest family member Wednesday AM.  I had not slept the whole night before (that is an unfortunate pattern), so I was dead tired when we went to the airport.  I usually dread flying with every fiber of my being, but both flights there were so smooth and relaxing (being sleep deprived has its advantages!).

I think green is God's favorite color.  It's everywhere.  Well, except in Arizona!  Grass is a rarity there.

Here is some stitching I did on the plane.  So glad I got the manicure scissors.  They made it through 8 flights this past week.  A good $4 investment.  I did want to go around the airport and the airplane yelling, "I have scissors!"  Somehow, I was able to refrain.  (It was not easy.  My husband thought I was nuts when I told him this.)

Our reason for going was to meet our newest family member, Jeremiah.  He brought his parents to church Wednesday night.  He is 3 weeks old and weighs a little over 8 pounds.  He is the cutest newborn!!  Here they are:

We spent Thursday sightseeing in the Catalina Mountains that are in Tucson.  Then Kimi and I went to a quilt shop, where I got these goodies.  The shop is the Quilt Basket, and it was featured in the 2013 Quilt Sampler magazine.  I remember seeing it way back then and thinking if I ever went to Tucson, I'd have to check it out.  Never thought I'd be there!  I got two new patterns and two FQs for my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt.  I will make a blossom to commemorate our trip out west.

I am eager to make both patterns.  The smaller one is a mini, with the houses finishing at 3" x 4".  So cute.  The larger pattern is a 16" Swoon block.  That one is for down the road.

Some pics from the drive that AM...

Friday we went to Phoenix for some sightseeing, shopping, and a couple meals out.  We got back to the hotel just exhausted.  I slept all night every night except last night.  We were going to get up at 3 AM to leave for the airport, and I just could. not. sleep.  It was maddening!!  The time zone there is 3 hours earlier than here, which caused us a little adjustment or a million.

We had a fun family day yesterday with celebrating our 15-year-old's birthday (my DIL surprised us with a homemade Minion cake).  So Isaac is 16 now!!  Yay!!

Sunset in Tucson...my favorite time of the day.  The city is surrounded on nearly every side by mountains.  The colors as the sun sets are stunning.  These were taken just a few minutes apart as we drove the 5 minutes back to the hotel from my son's.

We had 2 more good flights today. We arrived in Charlotte nearly an hour early.  When does THAT happen??  Now we're adjusting to life as normal.

My own life has been a whirlwind these past 3 weeks.  Tuesday I'm taking one of my sons (who lives on his own) to get his wisdom teeth out, nursing him back to health, then I'm going to try for a few days of staying at home and developing a sedentary lifestyle w/o drama, birth, death, surgery, and flying.  Oh, yes, and sleep...lots and lots of sleep.

In-flight sewing on the way from Chicago to Charlotte...

Here is the progress I made on my GFG just on the trip...much accomplished!

{Post 1,493} On The Quilting Front

I have had a few flights and in-the-car-as-the-passenger time lately.  So that means some progress has been made on my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt (do I hear cheering??).

Here is a picture of the top laid on my queen-sized bed.  Keep in mind that I have quite a few more rows to add for the pillow tuck.  In the picture, the top isn't even to the top of the mattress, but it's still encouraging.

My husband, son, and I are leaving in the AM for a flight to Arizona to see the newest family member, my oldest son's first child.  Plenty of stitching time awaits!!

Here are two blocks I worked on while flying to PA this past Monday.  I did a little stitching then, too.  I was so glad my manicure scissors were able to fly with me.  I got them at Walmart in the beauty department.  The tips are rounded.

Here is what is in the soon-to-be-finished stage.  Two of the blossoms are partially finished, and one that is complete is not attached to the mother ship yet.

This is laying on top of my bed.  I have some more rows to piece, but I'm much farther along than I thought!!

Here is the plan for the next five blocks.  I have high hopes, so I cut the strips I needed to the right width to take on the airplane with me. 

I have put piles of coordinating fabric where the next block colors are selected.  

Honeycomb Stars

I worked on the Honeycomb Stars a little tonight. I added a couple colors for variety, so I HAD to see how it looked (that's how most of my quilts start...I'll just make a block...then two...then...).

This measures about 9" square so far. I am thinking I'll need at least five "rings" as opposed to the three in the original photo. With a table for 10, one needs to be ready to expand!

I just noticed in the picture that the bottom right corner has an unfinished seam. The blue hexagon is not sewn down on the bottom short side. That's because I start on the long seam and continue up one short side, then go back and do the other. Must have gotten interrupted before finishing that one off. Will be corrected soon.

~Joan

In Love With New Project

I sewed these pieces together tonight. To quote the Taco Bell chihauhau, "I think I'm in love." Isn't this just the cutest? I wanted to make sure the pieces would all fit. I didn't mark any seam allowance...just wingin' it. I cut out a lot of pieces, but now I see I need some different reds added in, and a few other colors.

The edges of those little diamonds do, indeed, measure an inch.

Do I have the self control to only work on this on the road?? Help me, Rhonda.

~Joan

PS: I've had several ask, and NO--this is not paper pieced. It is rotary cut and eye-balled-sewn for the seam allowance. That is why I am so shocked that it all FITS!! My son was with me after all the little diamonds in the above piece were sewn together (before adding the hexagon). He looked at it and said, "That hexagon is W-A-Y too big to fit in there." I agreed. I thought my eye-balled seam allowances were too large. But. it. fit. perfectly.

The pattern is from the June 2010 American Patchwork & Quilting, which I actually bought for the cover pattern.

Sunday Craziness

Right after church Sunday I drove my oldest son to the airport (after a quick detour through the Hardee's drive through for lunch). He was home for a little over a week, and has now returned to his summer full-time job at the college he attends. It was a great visit.

In getting there, I had to drive through my former home town, and also the home town of Mary Jo's Cloth World. I had some time to kill, so I stopped there. They. were. closed.

Plan B: I went to a Bernina store in the same town that sells fabric. You see, I have a brown and pink scrap quilt in my future for which I need a border. I walked up to the door, and there was a sign that said "Come Back". What?? They were closed, too?? Since fabric stores are few and far between around here, I couldn't leave w/o a peek. I love the sample items they have in the store. So after I had my nose smashed to the windows of the store for several minutes with my hand shading my eyes, ten years came off my life. The door flew open and a woman stuck her head out. "Would you like to come in?" she asked. "We aren't open, but I'm here, and so are you." Well, yea!!

I proceeded to buy a charm pack of a new Moda fabric. There are several strange things about this purchase...I never have bought Moda fabric. I've never bought a charm pack.

Several months ago I bought a set of Twister rulers. To use them, you sew squares (either 5" or 10"--there are two sizes of rulers) into a rectangle, then use the rulers to cut pinwheel shapes out and resew them. Now I need to get some border fabrics. This is a Christmas line, and the yardage won't be in for a couple weeks. I think I'll save this for our next all-night sew. It would be a snap to sew, iron, cut and press them. The line is called "Adoring". Very cute colors. The turquoise is a neat twist. I think I'll get the funky stripe in the center for a border. I plan to replace that square with one that doesn't stand out too much. There were 42 prints in the pack, and I wanted to see what a potential layout would look like.

I also started a new hand-piecing project today. My son and I had appointments at the eye doctor. He is a good doc, but notorious for taking a very l-o-n-g time. We were there 2-1/2 hours. Good thing I went prepared. I wanted an in-the-car handwork project that wasn't queen-sized!! I am going to make the runner using my own colors (Thimbleberries) naturally. Here is a pic of the magazine spread. Not a stellar picture.

A close-up of one block. The little diamonds finish with one-inch-long sides. They are so fast. I sewed up nearly all the tiny pieces I had cut before I went back for my exam. The time-consuming part is cutting all the little diamonds. I taped the template to the back of my ruler. Zip, zip!!

The pattern as a runner. I'll probably add more blocks to accommodate our table for ten.

~Joan