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

G. I. Joe

Here is our friend Josiah's platoon in formation on the parade deck. There were about 300 graduates. They started with over 400. The large group was divided into 6 platoons. This was the first time we saw him in over 3 months.


Here is Joe's group marching past the bleachers. Notice that except for the flag bearers, they are in order by height, front to back.

The climax of the AM was when the drill instructors yelled, "Diiiiiiiis-missed!" and all the grads could relax for the first time in months, literally. Joe bolted for the bleachers and was the first one to reach his fans! We counted 42 family and friends that made the journey to congratulate him.

Here is my family with the happy grad. Joe's dad is on the far left with the sunglasses on. Our neighbor, and Joe's friend, Luke, is by Joe's left shoulder. The rest is my family (two of my children were unable to attend). Joe's battalion color was BLUE, so we all dressed accordingly. Left to right are Rachel (12), Emily (18), Susanna (15), Josiah. Next row Isaac (10), me, Wes, Benjamin (13). Front: Luke (17). It was sunny!

Here he is smiling (for the first time in 3 months, he commented) and chatting with all his well-wishers. He had the highest combined physical fitness and combat fitness score for his platoon. Way to to, Joe!!

Welcome home, Josiah!!

~Joan

Parris Island--Here We Come

Thursday after lunch our family loaded up in the big white van and took off for Parris Island, SC. A friend of our family was graduating from Marine boot camp the next day at 9 AM.

We stayed in nearby Beaufort, SC. After we arrived and settled in at the hotel, we drove to Port Royal Sound. These land lubbers rarely get a chance to see the ocean. While this was not the ocean in all its wave-crashing glory, this was the best we could do with our time constraints. It is a testament of God's beauty in creation.

The top picture is my husband and youngest son. The second is a picture I snapped right after we arrived. It was nearly sundown, and the clouds and sun made a lovely view. This is the way I mentally picture the sky moments before Christ returns for His saints. The sun's rays shining to the left in the pic are the perfect place for His appearance, don't you think?

~Joan

April 7th Arrival

I got these wonderful blocks from Julie in the mail today. There was so much happening around here that I didn't get to post about it until now. This had to be the fastest swap ever. I have been piecing spool blocks for my quilt for a little while. I was reading Julie's blog, and saw that she also just started piecing spools. Hers are smaller than mine, but I couldn't tell that from her post. I wrote and asked her if she wanted to swap some (a set of 25), and within a week we both had our *new-to-us* blocks in hand!!

Here are my favorites. There was a tie for first!! The one on the left has the loveliest pink and brown print. I never thought my quilt would have pink in it (because it's such a non-Thimbleberries color), but I think all but one contributor has had a pink block or two. I love them! The purple one is a tie for favorite because when I think of Julie, I think about her mad about plaid quilts, and that makes me remember her. Purple is also my favorite all-around color. Every quilt should have some!

~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

Forgot the Grand Finale

What can I say...my whole weekend was my tooth.

I couldn't capture the perfect picture to present. You'll just have to come by in person to examine and enjoy the quilty crinkliness and texture.

But, without further ado (didn't realize the above was ado), I present my hand-quilted Anka's Scrap Bag quilt...

This puppy even has a label. Since the other two seamstresses couldn't remember our start date either (or what decade we actually finished the rows, LOL), I just put an end date on the label. It seemed the prudent thing to do. So the label reads, "Anka's Scrap Bag pieced by Laura Downs, Robin Puma, and Joan Parker. Hand-quilted by Joan Parker. April 2010."


The End.

Swaperoo in a Hurry

I asked another blogger, Julie, if she wanted to swap a set of spool blocks. She is also making a spool quilt of some kind, but a different size block than me. In less than 24 hours we have sewn a set for each other and have them ready to mail. That is nearly as amazing as my dentist!!

Here are the ones I made for her. They are 3-1/2" square unfinished. I left my hand in the pic so you could see how small they are.

The last pic is one of the blocks for my quilt right above Julie's...unfinished size of 5" square...gargantuan by comparison!

My Australian blocks could arrive any day. The letter carrier must wonder why I am waiting for him every day recently!! If his wife quilted, he would understand.

~Joan

The Tooth Hurts

Went to my dentist first thing this AM after having a miserable day Sunday. I took the narcotic pain killer only to be loopy and nauseated, but w/o pain relief. My dentist worked me in. He is so amazing with his scheduling. Our family jokes about his service of speed and pain-free tactics. When they said I'd be worked into the schedule, I expected a long wait. I ended up waiting 3-1/2 whole minutes to be taken back to the exam room. That's when the real waiting began...another 2 minutes. Simply amazing. In a short amount of time he found the problem (pictured above--the tooth on the right with the tiny filling is nearly half decay underneath, extending down to the nerve). He numbed the tooth, and I came home to sleep until it was time to get a root canal done. My misery is over. I was about to break out in my own rendition of the Hee Haw favorite, "Gloom, Despair, and Agony On Me".

~Joan