Quilt Ridge

Great memories!

2012-02-14T05:51:00.001-08:00

Image from Bonnie Hunter at quiltville.com

funky Chickens

2012-01-31T20:16:00.001-08:00

January chicken done – the hen on the left was my trial block.

Orca Bay – Done

2012-01-31T16:43:00.001-08:00

I finished this the about 2 or 3 weeks ago, but I never seem to make time to post. Here it is, another Bonnie Hunter Mystery.

I was planning to work on Jamestown Landing next – but now I’m working on last years mystery Roll, Roll Cotton Boll. I will try to post that a little quicker.

Orca Bay – a Bonnie Hunter Mystery

2012-01-02T20:28:00.001-08:00

I am getting there….

It was messy, but the center is done! And the pieced borders are almost done.

I bet that inner board is going to include some ripping before I’m done. Want to lay odds?

Oh, and the I Spy top is ready for quilting. Yah!

Sorry for the fuzzy camera, I think the camera batteries are fading fast. Need to go plug them in.

I’m back, for awhile anyway….

2012-01-02T19:53:00.001-08:00

First John and I went to Florida the week before Christmas. I do NOT think I will be doing that again anytime soon.

We were there for 4 days for Tony. We moved him out.

And watch him graduate. Thanks too to Johna and Aunt Jo :)

classes from old page

2011-12-14T16:44:00.000-08:00

...

classes page more stuff

it a mini…..

2011-12-10T23:24:00.001-08:00

Ok, I NEED to get things done for Christmas!!!!!!!!!! That quilters ADD is kicking in again.

I was on the boards last night and the ladies there are making 12” x 18” quilts for presents for needy children NEXT year! They are going to have 1 from every state, and you know, IL was not taken. What was I suppose to do?

I’m making Bonnie Hunters Maverick Stars, and they looked good! but I had to go and make them dance. :)

This is 8” x 12” right now – I think the rest is going to be boarders. I know the green star in the bottom right corner has the corner cut off. ugh!

Clue #2

2011-11-30T04:40:00.001-08:00

I have been busy – but not sewing much. Here are the firs 52 blocks for Clue #2 of Bonnie Hunters 2011 Mystery Quilt.

I just may have to redo them – I think there too light for the quilt. hum…..

2011 Bonnie Hunter Mystery

2011-11-21T15:29:00.001-08:00

I was NOT going to do this – I have wayyyyy to many other projects going.

Who am I kidding, I love the mysteries. Sunday I started cutting and today I finished Clue #1. I’m off and running….

223 - 2” hour glass blocks (black and neutral). I started by just cutting lots of pairs.

I cut, sewed, ironed, sewed, ironed, and ironed some more. I HATE ironing. But Bonnie’s #1 rule is NO WHINING! So lets move on.

I did need to cut a few more pairs, but this time I took a tip from Subee – she mentioned using starch to pair up the 1.5” strips before you cut. More ironing! Really.

Well, it is suppose to make the cut much more accurate, and because the pairs stay together your seams are more accurate. WOW! I can tell you that works GREAT!

Christmas Gifts Started

2011-10-29T17:50:00.001-07:00

Two little gifts have been started. Crayon Rolls to go in the snap bags that are yet to be started… I need to find 2 buttons next.

It’s Just TOO Big!

2011-10-25T13:01:00.000-07:00

Too big for the design wall, too big for my sewing table, too big for the fence!

But it looks pretty good on our king size bed. I will post a picture of it on the bed when I get it quilted. That give me a little time to clean the bedroom for pictures. ha!

You’ll have to take my word for it, those borders cover the bed frame WITHOUT the bed skirt.

SUCCESS!!!!

2012 Row Robin

2011-10-23T17:52:00.001-07:00

I am going to the 2012 COF Retreat next September. To get ready for the fun, a bunch of are doing a quilt challenge that will be revealed at the retreat.

Being the crazy person I am, I signed up for both the wall hanging and lap size quilt. The process is a secret but we can show our center rows.

The wall hanging – the thought is winter (blue and white)

The lap size – red, white and blue.

They need to be in the mail by Tuesday, so this is the last you or I will see of this project till next year. I can’t wait !!!

Weekend Project

2011-10-23T17:39:00.001-07:00

Jacki came down for the weekend and this is what we did…..

Well, we shopped for fabric Saturday and we cut and sewed today. I will try to get this sandwiched this week so I can quilt it before Thanksgiving.

A Day Out in Florida

2011-09-23T04:51:00.001-07:00

Joanne wanted to see Harry Potter. So we went to Universal’s Islands of Adventure, TWICE! Hogswart did NOT disappoint, I highly recommend the entire experience!

We also saw the new Spiderman exhibit, but the Hulk Roller Coaster wins hands down as the best attraction in the Marvel Section of the park.

The next time you plan a vacation to any of the Florida Theme Parks, the week AFTER Labor Day is the time to go. There are NO lines during the week and even a nice Saturday only brought out 60 min wait times at some of the most popular attractions.

Even if the lines do get long – the barkeeps at the Porch of Indecision and the Lone Palm keep the drinks coming with little or no wait. Ask me how I know! :)

Where I spent the 2nd week of September

2011-09-21T05:19:00.001-07:00

A little while ago I spent a week visiting Tony. He has pretty much had it with Florida. His apartment is ok, but our digs were a little better.

This is also where our daughters wedding reception was held. We love Hilton!

Jo and I kept busy most days. This is when I just can’t do without my nook. It was hot, high 90’s each day, but that isn’t a problem when you can cool off in the water every 15 min or so.

The last morning was pretty. I will enjoy it even more in December when we go down for Tony’s graduation.

Another Top Done

2011-09-20T04:59:00.001-07:00

This is the last of the Christmas presents. Mom’s scrappy ladder is about 1/4 of the way quilted. Then this one.

And I will NOT be starting any other quilts with the delusion of getting them done for presents.

I did not say I wasn’t going to start any other quilts – just not any for Christmas presents. Just saying….

Crumbs

2011-09-18T18:13:00.001-07:00

Looks like I have joined Jo’s Crumb-Along…

I really should be working on quilts that I have to get done for Christmas. But instead I made a mess today. Look at this……

I did not even make a DENT in that basket of strings and crumbs. And that pile to the right, it’s work to be pieced and/or quilted.

I don’t know if I like the red or purple blocks better. Maybe I will make them into 2 quilts, goodness knows I have enough crumbs!

Again

2011-09-06T13:01:00.000-07:00

You may think you’ve seen this before. I know I have!

I made a scrappy Jacobs Ladder quilt with recycled shirts and muslin for myself. And my mother really liked it.

Soooooo, this one is for her. Shhhhh it’s a Christmas present. (The plan was to give it to her last year – but it’s sandwiched now.) She has a real good chance of getting it this year.

I’ve been busy

2011-09-05T20:49:00.001-07:00

Just look at this Mess!!! I have been trying to finish up a few projects. Because in the winter I have little desire to piece, and when I do – the den is COLD!!

(ok its become my sewing room, but I do share it with the household bills. That counts for something doesn’t it?)

But I did get something done,

Without any more delay – here it is – the second quilt for the Demning girls ….. Two down, one to go.

I’m not crazy about the small star blocks, but with them the top is almost the same size as Riley’s. And I used up a lot more scraps this way too.

There are more tops to show in that pile – but they will have to wait until later – its getting late and I’m falling asleep.

I had every intention to get some quilting done on this top, but that’s not going to happen either. I will take this to FL later this week. We’ll see how much I get done there.

DVD or recycled shirt shelf ??

2011-08-31T11:52:00.001-07:00

I have been cleaning. I think this is a pretty good use of an old DVD shelf.

Doesn’t the closet look so organized. All of the shirts I have are dis-assembled and folded. I don’t think there is much room for more. And those blue draws have 1.5, 2, 2.5 and 3.5 inch strips. And they are all FULL TOO!!

A few of the shirts ended up here - its far from done, the goal for this one is to cover a queen size bed with NO bed skirt.

Who came up this that idea? Isn’t a bed skirt just an excuse to not finish a quilt?

I’m back

2011-08-30T15:27:00.001-07:00

A quick update on the girls quilts. Their baby sister has one coming too, so I think they will not see these till their birthdays in Feb.

Riley’s will be quilted by Labor Day – and with any luck Audree’s will be sandwiched so that I have something to keep me busy on my trip to FL. (if I have enough of that blue – I’m sure it will be pieced. ugh…)

Its a block – a BIG block

2011-08-29T22:20:00.001-07:00

I like it!

the garden

2011-07-24T06:57:00.001-07:00

Have you heard? We want to move to our property in MO…. But with all the issues with John arm were here till he is released by the Dr. And then there’s selling the house.

So this year we planted my snow pea and a little lettus. Yah, you cant see the lettus – it did NOT grow.

And then there’s the rasberries. These pics were taken 2 weeks ago.

We have taken about 6-7 cups in the last week and a half and there still comming.

Partially done,

2011-07-23T19:21:00.001-07:00

This one is 8x8 and I really don’t like square quilts – so I’m not sure what I’m going to do about the boards. Why is this always the hardest part for me?

My husbands grandmother use to make scrappy 9 patch quilts for everyone in the family. And she used ANY and ALL scraps. I think that every one in church that sewed gave her their scraps. This is what I’ve been working with!

The pattern is Florabunda – Bonnie Hunter has the pattern posted on her blog.

July 2011 Storm – Northern IL

2011-07-17T21:00:00.001-07:00

Did you hear about the storm that went thru the Chicagoland area last Monday? Over 850,000 were without power for extended periods of time. Our house was without power for 2 and 1/2 days. But there are still some without power today.

We had 2 trees that were “topped”. The wind was so strong that the tops of MANY trees were just sheared off. – hence the no power.

And here is the top of this tree – It took John 3 day to clean and then burn this. Now we can work on the choke cherry tree that landed on the fence. There’s always something to do around here.

Buried Treasure ….

2011-07-11T05:10:00.001-07:00

My husband has been spending a lot of time with his family recently. They are going thru his grandmother’s farm house. No one has ordered a dumpster so, last night he came home with a pickup truck full of trash to be set out for our local collector!

But he had a few small boxes to bring into the house???

Look what he found mixed in with old news papers and to do lists.

Can you see that group. This is the group of ladies that stated the Piecemakers Quilt Guild out of Springfield MO. There is a nice story about how the guild was started.

And a pattern for this!

Come back to see what else is in those boxes….

I need boarders

2011-07-10T20:03:00.001-07:00

Any ideas?

another quilt

2011-07-09T16:40:00.001-07:00

shhhh…. this one is a surprise,

I received a ruler as a door prize at the quilt retreat in NC this spring and I wanted to give it a try. Jacki brought down a few shirts she saved while helping a friend clean out a closet. And I decided to make a small quilt. I am shooting for Christmas, but I’m waiting to sandwich it for the next time Jack’s here to help.

It will go to one of the girls. There are 2 girls so you know this means another one. hummmm

update: Quilts

2011-06-16T12:21:00.001-07:00

I see another project in my future – these 6” blocks are sooooo cute.

I’m thinking the red and white will be the only constant, the star will just be Dark and Light.

And, the star blocks are together, but its about 6inches too small for the bed. So this Smoky Mountain Stars Quilt is waiting for boarders. (pattern on Bonnie Hunters site – Quiltville.com

What do you think, scrappy or RWB strips (one color each) hum…..

another UFO added

2011-06-12T21:00:00.001-07:00

But this should be a top soon. Lord knows when it will get quilted!

Summer came this last weekend

2011-06-07T11:24:00.001-07:00

And the flowers around here are putting on a show….

Even the robins were enjoying the day...

Sunday BBQ

2011-06-06T17:06:00.001-07:00

It was hot yesterday! So we grilled out. John wanted Beer Can Chicken – I wanted to clean the freezer. And I found a 9 pound Pork Roast!!!!

So we grilled both. That Pork took 7 hours to slow cook! (and I did not get a picture of the finished roast)

Here was Sunday dinner….. Chicken, fruit salad, coleslaw, and pasta salad. OK I was in a clean out the fridg mode, so make salads. It was yummy!!

One busy holiday

2011-05-31T17:33:00.001-07:00

This is what I saw when I went to feed this morning.

and look at some upclose! UGH…..

John, a 21 year retried veteran was going to hang out at the burn pile with a beer and get rid of some of the brush today. But I took a long look at the goat barn, and I he took pity on me.

How do they get so much bedding under the bench?

Lots of pics in progress – but I forgot to take one of the end results.

But I did get one right before we started to clean up.

The dogs idea of help, Maggie stayed in the shade, while Morgan tried to get the squirrel out of the spool. Notice Tigger is missing – she is probably sleeping on our bed!

We did make time to cook dinner, beef kabobs, grilled veggies, corn on the cob, homemade potato salad (yes that IS homemade – I save all deli containers) – and I did NOT finish that bottle, but I wanted to!

Its Done!

2011-05-30T19:01:00.001-07:00

…. and will be delivered Wednesday. I think the baby is due in early to mid July, but its going now.

I am quilting a Christmas quilt now, well not NOW – it was 90 degrees today. but that is my hand work, so I may have to move back to the hand cathedral windows for the summer hum…

I have tomorrow off too, maybe I will work on the boarders for Mom’s Christmas present. A pieced TABLECLOTH see it below – 2 post back. That what she wants!

and for something totally different…..

Facts about The killing of Osama Bin Laden:

1) Fugitive for 19 years. Hunted by Saudi Arabia , Interpol, Scotland Yard, Mossad, and the CIA.

2) CIA was looking for him for last 14 years. Found him twice and lost him twice. Cost $1.8 Billion

3) CIA had 4 directors over this time period, 1997- 2011. All failed to capture Bin Laden.

4) Obama appoints Leon Panetta son of Italian immigrants as new CIA director April 28^th, 2011

5) Mr. Panetta calls in a few favors from friends in New York, New Jersey & Las Vegas on April 29th 2011.

6) They plan a raid over some espresso and cannolis April 30^th, 2011. Decide to dress as Navy Seals.

7) Bin Laden is killed (not captured or held for trial) and the body is dumped at sea May 1, 2011. (also known as “swimming with the fishes” in Italian folklore)

8) Job done in less then 100 hours: Reward $25,000,000

9) Estimated savings of not having a trial $200,000,000.

10) Shop Italian

the dogs in this house are BUMS!

2011-05-22T15:25:00.001-07:00

I did not make the bed this morning (who am I kidding, I seldom make the bed!)

Anyway look what I found. And using my PILLOW! Tigger dogs belong on the floor, but you try to tell her, she’s not moving. This was the 3rd pic I took and she never lifted her head. UGH……

I made a comment in a previous post about a quilt being well worn in just 5 months. Could this explain things?

Working on a UFO and a New Project

2011-05-16T19:46:00.001-07:00

I put together the blocks for one of my UFO, borders and finishing next on the list. AFTER..

I finish this quilt needs and get it to the new parents this month. I think the baby is due in June. Finished the quilting today, but I need to go shopping for some binding. I’m thinking about dark purple. What do you think?

Its been quite around here

2011-05-14T05:49:00.001-07:00

This week, I have been home with the animals and the rest of the family has been vacationing here:

They are all in Florida visiting Tony. It is the first time he has had company since moving there to go to school. By the way he has received the top student award for his group for 2 sessions of the 6 he has finished. Not bad for a kid who has always had difficulty reading. His sister has been on the Dean’s List for 5 years getting degrees in Chemistry and Education. I am sooooo very proud of both of them!

They have visited Tony’s apartment, but they have been staying at the resort and enjoying Hilton amenities.

I’m ready for them to be home, its just too quite here. Did I really say that!!!!

Friday was Graduation Day

2011-05-10T19:41:00.001-07:00

Jacki received her Master in Education this last Friday. It was a beautiful day.

Smile for the camera Jack..

Crumbs from Christmas

2011-05-10T06:27:00.001-07:00

I was looking for pics of the quilt I made John for Christmas this last year. Well it looks like I never took a picture of it. Really!??

So here it is – well loved and worn just 5 months later.

And a close up for those of you that want to see my really bad hand quilted fans.

A sewing retreat in North Carolina

2011-05-04T18:58:00.001-07:00

It was a good time, but I’m pooped!

When we walked in 3 walls of the room were lined with round robin quilts – and they were BEAUTIFUL!!!

Then there was the sew and tell. Wow!!!

More from the retreat

2011-05-04T18:57:00.001-07:00

Every minute of the day seemed to be full with many activities. We had shopping trips…

To Mary Jo’s – (my wallet was considerable lighter after this stop.)

And Long Creek Mills, my thread stash has been started.

And new friends to meet Our Bingo caller was GREAT – Bless her Heart.

A Retreat to Remember

2011-05-04T18:56:00.001-07:00

There was classes, trunk shows and I met my next toy.

Even the drive home was beautiful. There is no place that can compare with the views in TN.

and I’m outa here….

2011-04-27T05:44:00.001-07:00

Well for a long weekend at least. Jean is on her way done from WI and I am going to pack the truck, the BIG truck. We have 30 quilt that need to get there too. MaryAnn, we will be there this afternoon, then Charlotte here we COME. A Quilting retreat with 80+ people that I don’t know.

The roads are wet from here to there, and I am a little worried about what the property in MO looks like lately, there are reports of flooding in MO again. But one thing at at time – to NC for some friendship, shopping, sewing and maybe even a little relaxation.

Here is what the property looked like last year this time.
Soooooo much better than the snow from the last post a few weeks ago.

Easter in just 6 days?

2011-04-18T05:10:00.001-07:00

You have to love the weather this year – its keeping us on our toes.

The poor evergreen, a tree was taken down and went right thru the top half in December.

It’s a Top…

2011-04-17T18:43:00.001-07:00

ok, I know it needs to be ironed – but I’m beat! 9 days before I leave for Charlotte and I can’t wait. I am going to need hand work to keep me busy and I was not interested in taking Tim’s large quilt. This should be just the right size to keep me warm if the air conditioner is working overtime and not too big to tote back and forth to my room. I need to make time this week and sandwich it, AFTER I reprint the label and get it on the backing. There are just not enough hours in the day.

Key Chain Project from the HGTV Boards

2011-04-07T05:39:00.001-07:00

Lets see if this works. Here is the pdf, to make this:

Project List – 2011 UFO Updated

2011-04-03T08:29:00.001-07:00

Today is April 3 – one 1/4 of the way thru the years. Lets have a look at my progress. I have finished a few quilts, and also created a couple of project that I may use for gifts. But there are also new items started. Any one surprised?!?!?

I have recreated and updated my list from Jan below and I feel pretty good about my progress so far. It’s not great, but a first step in getting things organized. This is the first time I have made a list and it feels good to have something to go to when I get that Quilter ADD feeling……
I started a modified Blue Ridge Beauty (a Bonnie Hunter pattern – check out here site HERE) This will be for a bed when showing the house. I can NOT believe that I do not have finished beds with as many quilts as I make. Seems we like throw quilts over finished large quilts.
When Grandma B. passed last month, my husband asked me to make a quilt out of a fleece type sweater that his mother had given her. That “top” is together, and will be sandwiched before next weekend (maybe today?) Watch for a pic soon.
A Coworker is having a baby, and I want to do something there to. I have a few ideas, will have to see how soon I can get going on that.
I have started a Challenge from the HGTV Boards. We all send in a set of 2 6” squares and everyone has 6 months to create a quilt for charity. Prizes are given and support is always there, well see how far in over my head I am – my pairs go in the mail Monday. (A great group of quilters check it out HERE)
Finally, the group of ladies on the Boards have a retreat each year, and even though I have only been a member since last year, I have decided to go to NC this year. Actually this MONTH! 4 days of classes, presentations, outing to shop at MaryJo’s and a Thread Mill in the area. I should be saving money right now, but I’m going anyway.

*#1 Scrappy Jacobs Ladder* Done!	I have been using this for week. :)
#2 Scrappy JacobsLadder2 No Progress, if I get a design wall – this would be one of the first there.	#3 Blue Blocks No Progress, this really does need some more thought….
*#4 Baby Bricks* No Progress, may be a practice quilt after machine quilting class at the retreat next month, hum.	*#5 & 6 Carolina Christmas* Next, after baby quilt(s), but after some more deliberation I think one quilt not two
*#7 Roll, Roll Cotton Boll* No Progress, I am going to have to get excited about this one – LOTS of work too go.	*#8 Christmas Lights* Boarders on, Sandwiched, Labeled, Ready to Quilt, Yah!
*#9 2011 Block of the Month* Done!	Ready to Mail, timing is everything – FL on April 15 or 16

Quilt Labels…

2011-03-22T05:11:00.001-07:00

I know that quilts should all have labels. Most of mine are luck to get a signature and year on them. I am NO good at any of this. I have a difficult time coming up with the text, I have terrible hand writing, and I have no easy way to make them.

Now I there is a new baby quilt to make, word is one of my coworker’s wife is due at the end of summer, and Tony’s birthday quilt is bound. So….. if I’m going make labels now’s the time.

I am planning to spend some time designing a couple of labels and see about printing them on my ink jet printer. I know that they should be set with some liquid and/or heat. I’m putting my daughter the chemist on it. She should be able to come up with something inexpensive to use.

And because a post is just BORING without a pic – here is Tony’s quilt “Holes in the Barn”. I think its pretty appropriate for him, he’s just a farm boy at heart.

A Raffle with Sooooo Many Prizes!

2011-03-19T05:33:00.001-07:00

Jean from the HGTV message board is dedicated to charitable endeavors. This year she is working to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy by raffling off at least 35 QUILTS!

THREE chances for $5.00.

Click the button for more information and to see all the great quilts. Eye candy for sure!

Various quilters from the HGTV board made these quilts in answer to Jean's annual challenge. Part of her challenge each year is that the quilt be donated to charity.Jean works tirelessly to give back and I would love her to be able to achieve her goal...

To donate by Paypal, Credit card or arrange mailing of checks contact Jean at jayardi@wi.rr.com. One look at all those gorgeous quilts coupled with the great cause will certainly have you making a generous contribution. If you prefer, contact me (dkbrown04@yahoo.com) and I will make the arrangements for you with Jean.

Is it the end of April yet?

2011-03-18T05:30:00.001-07:00

I am getting ready for a retreat I will be going on. Ok, its over a month away, but these ladies like there games, so I need to get fat quarters and strips ready to go.

This prep work does make a mess of the cutting table.

Here are my FQs for the Neapolitan game. I also have the neutrals, and dots/dashs sorted. I did find 2 Black/White prints, but I will need to find one more. There are other categories, but I’m not sure if I’m going to play all the games. We will have to see how much time I have to gather up fabric.

But there are 2 games of Strip Poker – NO not clothes, 2.5 inch strip!!!. I can get into this! Its off to find more material. ……

Its back to quilter A.D.D.

2011-03-17T06:02:00.001-07:00

I should be binding the hole in the barn Quilt, or borders on the Christmas Lights quilt, but NOOOOOO I started another quilt.

I have been making these blocks for a few weeks but Sunday I put together the first two sections.

An update

2011-03-16T05:19:00.001-07:00

I don’t think I ever posted my FINISHED Jacobs Ladder quilt. I love how it turned out.

Here are some pics of the quilting. I know it’s hard to see. (click to see a little bigger pic) This is my third go at freehand fans, and I need LOTS of practice!!

The dog days of March?

2011-03-13T18:44:00.001-07:00

First just because their too cute. Did I say that!

Morgan never wants to get up, this morning I did not make the bed (who am I kidding, I rarely make the bed!) Anyway, Here she is….

And here is Tigger. She likes a nest, so I just make a pile of the old dog beds in the corner and she’s happy. I don’t like the looks of this, so in the summer everything gets washed and is put up until it get cold again.

Editing Photos – talk about boring….

2011-03-02T20:50:00.001-08:00

I have been asked by many of my friends and family if I would teach them how to edit photos for various uses. I do NOT profess to be an expert, and there are MANY things that I just don’t know. This is probably going to be a rambling, but I to avoid a lot of that…

Picture size:
In general, I have been taught to always take pictures with the highest setting that my camera can take. Then edit down depending on the use. And as long as you have the space on your camera or phone this is a good rule to use.

HOWEVER…. there’s always a but…. There are issues that should be taken into consideration if you are going to ALWAYS follow this rule.

First, as I stated in the rule, High setting mean large files. If you have a 1 gig SD card in your camera, and you do not have time to download the pics; taking a lot of 10 or 12meg pictures will limit greatly the number of pics that will fit on that card before you need to delete some.

Or if you have a nice size card, but have not downloaded all the pictures in over 3 years you may need to delete something to get that special picture when the time comes. Ask me how I know this, ugh….
Typically saving those large files will take some time. The camera has to write that to its storage devise. If your taking pics at your sons first little league game, and you take the first picture of him running down the third base line. You may miss the pic of him crossing home base while the camera saves the first picture.

If your taking pictures of the perfect rose growing in your garden, you can probably wait to take the next one.
Then there’s working with those monster files. Computers are much more powerful these days, but sending this files in email is just inconsiderate and posting them on websites and blogs can make a page load REALLY slow.

So why do you want larger files?

The pictures are typically clearer, both on the screen and in print.
There is more detail captured in the picture – hair on dogs, stitches are clearer on my quilt pics, and the colors are just brighter!
And my favorite, you can always edit out detail, but you can NOT add it back in.
If your printing 5x7 and 8x10 prints – the larger the file the better. And remember, anytime you crop or resize your picture you are reducing not only the size of the file, but you are deleting some of the detail.
NOTE: If you delete enough detail, the print will be fuzzy, grainy or both.

What are these “settings”? I don’t know if I can do this justice, but I will try to keep it simple.

Resolution: this is the number of pixels per inch (or “dpi” dots per inch) The higher the resolution (more dots per inch) the larger the file, AND the more detailed the file will be.

Dimension: size or the file saved by your phone or camera

Quality: the amount of data compression or optimizing

Online / Email Pictures
If you’ve made it this far congratulation, because this post is putting ME to sleep…..

My rule of thumb is to keep pictures that will be emailed or posted online to between 72 and 180 dpi. But this is not going to help if the pic is 3000 pixels (dot) wide. You will scroll to see the right and bottom. So the dimension I use is a relative width of between 500 and 600.

Examples: ?

picture at 180dpi – dimension 750 x 563 (158 kb)

pic 500 x 375 at 180 dpi (86 kb)

If you need the detail above but want the picture to fit crop out the portion you need to 500 x 375 and leave the resolution at 180 dpi. (96 kb)

finally 500 x 375 at 72 dpi (86 kb)

I have Adobe PhotoShop that I use to edit my pictures, but it really is overkill for most people. With this application I can define the image size by changing the resolution and/or dimensions to create these test.

Simply resizing a pic by a percentage, is very confusing especially if you don’t know what the settings are to begin with. But there are a lot of free or shareware application out there that can do simple editing .

Here is a site I recently found to resize pictures for free. FREE is good!!!

http://www.picresize.com/

Come on spring….

2011-02-02T08:34:00.001-08:00

There are some doors that we are NOT getting in today!

Keeping the heat on

2011-02-02T08:31:00.001-08:00

Most Furnaces have a carbon dioxide emergency shut off. If you are waiting for a repair man, this may help.

Our 20+ year old furnace vents about a foot off the ground. My husband kept this relatively clear last night, but fell asleep about 3:30 – at 7 we had no heat!

Once this happens we dig it out – use a broom handle to clear the vent – then reset the unit.

We go to the basement (open a window) and open the panel. For us it only takes a minute or two to reset the sensor and the unit kicks on.

And what were the dogs doing while we tryed to get heat in the house….

2011 Blizzard – February 1

2011-02-01T15:40:00.001-08:00

I’m not sure this picture is any better than last nights, but it IS snowing harder….

We are suppose to get between 11-20 inches, but now they are saying the storm is picking up speed. If they are right, that would mean less snow. I’m good with that. I will try to get a better picture tomorrow.

Until then – here is what I will be working on tonight.

Someone just shook up the Snow Globe!!

2011-01-31T15:50:00.001-08:00

I’ll bet the ground hog starts digging when he see this!

hole in the barn blocks

2011-01-30T17:23:00.001-08:00

My next quilt, the blocks are done….

View Full Album

Coffee Cookies!

2011-01-30T16:48:00.001-08:00

The original recipe was found at Chickens in the Road here. You can find LOTS of good thing on this site. Most of my new recipes come from the forum – Check it out!! Here is my version of these cookies, I made a few modifications mostly because we don’t keep a large pantry and I like coffee flavor a lot. Boy are they good, YUM!!

2 1/2 T instant coffee crystals
1 1/2 T hazel nut creamer *

1 c butter
2/3 c sugar
2/3 c brown sugar

1 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 egg
1 1/2 t vanilla

2 1/4 c flour

3 T coco powder
2 1/2 T hazel nut creamer *

1/4 c chocolate chips (optional)

* The original recipe called for cream or half and half – but I never have any. The coffee creamer worked great as an alternative!

dissolve coffee in 1 1/2 T of creamer
in mixer, cream butter with sugar and brown sugar
add coffee mixture, soda, salt, egg and vanilla
mix in flour slowly
divide dough in half
add coco powder and creamer to one half
add chocolate chips to other half
place a small drop of each dough together on cookie sheet
bake 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees

NOTE: There are only 2 of us here now, and instead of baking all of this recipe, I baked 2 small sheets then wrapped the rest into 2 rolls and refrigerate for later in the week.

I need to stop starting New Quilts

2011-01-16T09:05:00.001-08:00

But I have a reason this time. Tony’s Birthday is in April.

Think I can get it done???

Update – 5:30pm:
One of these things is not like the other, ugh!

MORE: Jan 17, 2011 A day off and I got to SEW!! Three or four more, now to decide if how to lay them out. Square or On-point??

Quilting …

2011-01-13T08:52:00.000-08:00

When I am working on a project I always end up with pile and scraps of fabric everywhere! I have tried to sew “neater” but its just not me. So I spend a lot of time before and after just picking up.

Since I bought my featherweight – I never get out my other machine. This one fits me perfectly.

2011 UFO List

2011-01-10T03:27:00.000-08:00

I decided to create a list of the items I need/want to finish this year.

First Need To:

A quilt for Tony for his birthday. I started this one today – it is #9 in the list below
A quilt for Tim for Christmas. I will NOT be quilting presents in November this year so as soon as Tony’s is done this is the next on my list.

Without further nonsense… Here they are, or at least the ones I have identified as doable before the end of the year.

#1 Scrappy Jacobs Ladder

A quilt for ME. I have this sandwiched and I am hand quilting it with free hand Bishop Fans.

#2 Scrappy JacobsLadder2

Mom wanted my quilt above but I said no, so Jacki thought we should make her one for Christmas. May this year.

She wants it with very little or no batting, something about it being used as a table cloth.

#3 Blue Blocks

I have a bunch of blocks using 30’s replica fabric and solids. I thought about piecing a few more and making a top with them.

We’ll see if this happens.

#4 Baby Bricks

This started out as a gift for a co-workers baby, and I just do not like it.

Looks like it will be practice quilting on the machine then its off to charity.

#5 & 6 Carolina Christmas

This is the first Mystery Quilt I worked on in 2010. I really like the blocks, but I’m not thrilled with Bonnie Hunters layout.

So, I was thinking 2 quilts – one with each block type. If not this is a HUGH quilt that will probably never get done.

#7 Roll, Roll Cotton Boll

Bonnie Hunter’s 2010 Mystery, I’m getting use to the colors but I just don’t have enough neutral shirting to make the 60 string blocks needed.

A good reason to visit the Salvation Army again. :)

#8 Christmas Lights

This is Bonnie’s Christmas Lights, and it is growing on me.

I used some of the 4patch blocks that I swapped last year with Bonnie Minor on the HGTV boards.

I put all the blocks together in a weekend – until I found out I was short the red check fabric. I need 3 more. I decided to use the solid red in the corners.

Can you see the frog stitching I need to do here before I make borders and quilt. 1 block twisted, ugh…..

#9 2011 Block of the Month

And here is one I started this weekend. I plan to put this together for Tony’s birthday – I have to find some 6” blocks for the centers, because I will only have 1 or 2 more before then, but I will keep up with the girls, I think I may want one of these for me too.

Watch out here comes another UFO – oh what else would I do anyway…..

I think that is a little much for me, but lets see – it’s less than one a month. hummmmm

Holiday Sewing

2011-01-09T19:12:00.001-08:00

During the holidays, Jacki and I did some sewing, I had to finish some presents and she made a friend a baby quilt.

The baby is not due until July. But Jacki did not want to give the baby a quilt without having something for her sisters.

So, Quillows! They were not perfect, but I really like how they turned out.

Here they are with a little more detail.

Baby Quilt is a panel with pieced border and hand quilted.

The baby’s sisters, 3 year old Audrey’s and 6 year old Riley;s Quillows.

Quiltville and Stash Manicure

2011-01-08T05:31:00.001-08:00

If you have not visited these sites, do it now! I am sooooo inspired by Bonnie's Quilts that my UFO list grows regularly. Ok, I cant blame her for it all, but it seems that whenever she post a new quilt pattern or publishes a new book, I just have to make something.

Bonnie has been busy lately.

Many of her Quiltville followers have been doing a Mystery quilt over the holidays. It is listed on her blog as Roll, Roll, Cotton Boll!
Today there is a new pattern listed for Kiss in the Corner!
and she is blogging on Stash Manicure today. There is a trunk show highlighting her new book Scraps & Shirttails II.

Tony is off to school in Florida

2011-01-07T18:27:00.000-08:00

This is why I have not been posting. Well, this & Christmas.

Two weeks ago my livingroom looked like this. We had Christmas here, then four days later Tony, Tim and Jesse went on a road trip.

Tim is alway glad to see me with the camera, but I could not help it. At 5am the house was jumping.

Jacki helped Tim wrap some of the cardboard boxes that might get ruined if it rains during the 24 hour trip.

And where is Jesse - he did help load the truck, but I think by then I was helping.

And they were off. Tony does not have more than a 3 day weekend off till Thanksgiving 2011. And I doubt he will be able to come home then.

I guess we will all have to take turns going south to visit.

They "Updated" Hilton ??

2011-01-07T17:58:00.000-08:00

In November Tony and I went to Florida to get things organized before he started school after the New Year.

We stayed at our family's favorite vacation spot. But now they have gone and made "improvements"! Ugh!!!! Modern bluck.

They even changed the fountain in the lobby. Stars in a Florida Resort - really!

Here are more pictures for my daughter to see what they did to the room where she had her wedding. That wall was where they setup the bar when it started to rain after dinner on the patio.

But the patio has not been changed. Just some new umbrellas.

Dreaming of Summer

2011-01-07T05:30:00.000-08:00

And its not just me!

Waiting for tonight...

2010-12-18T06:08:00.000-08:00

I get to open a present tonight. I signed up for a stocking swap with the ladies on the HGTV board.

Mine has been here for almost a week and I want to open it NOW. The scheduled opening time is 8pm tonight. (I think I should check to see if that is Eastern time or Centeral? hum....)

John is on the Mend

2010-12-18T06:07:00.000-08:00

And he has a shadow....

I Want THESE Cookies

2010-12-11T16:00:00.000-08:00

Susanne McMinn has one of the best Blogs! Check out her life on her little piece of heaven.
Now back to these cookies - Drunken Rum Cookie Logs Click the link or the picture for the recipe along with special holiday baking instructions.

You can find this and so much more on her fourm.

Stuffed Shells - the end of a busy day

2010-12-11T15:23:00.000-08:00

John had knee surgery yesterday. And as a result I have been cooking. I like to cook, but I want to get some things done for Christmas.

I did put in a bit of effort on tonight's dinner but I also had help.

While I mixed up some marinara sauce, Tony cooked the shells and stuffed them with meat that John had mixed and froze a few weeks ago.
I however can NOT leave things alone. I added a chunck of fresh motz and some sharp cheader on top.

Live is just better with cheese. So it follows that life is More Better with More CHEESE. hee hee
And while I had the kitchen trashed making candy, cookies and bagles I whipped up some FRESH Bread to go with the pasta.
We should have had a salad with this. Maybe tomorrow. I'm tired.

Tomorrow: Wrap presents, clean out woodstove, make shopping list for holiday meals and maybe get a quilt bound?

Gail's Pecan Sandies - YUM

2010-12-11T13:58:00.000-08:00

This was cooking Saturday - Bagels, Bread, Stuffed Sells, Candy, Cookies and cookie dough for tomorrow.

Here are the Saturday Cookies -

Note to self - a pretty pweeny batch, make 2 if this is all your cooking. But with everything else - more than enough.

Mix the dough and roll into small balls - after cooking these cookies should NOT be browned.

Once the cookies are completely cool - roll each in powdered sugar. They are REALLY good.Pecan Sandies
1 cup soften Butter

1/2 cup Powdered Sugar

1 t vanilla

2 1/4 cup flour

1/4 t salt

3/4 cup finely chopped nuts

-Beat butter, sugar and vanilla

-Add flour and nuts

-Mix well (use the warmth of your hands to mix if the dough is dry)

-Bake 8 to 10 min, bottoms will begain to brown

- cool on rake completely and roll in powder sugar

This ones for Carol

2010-12-11T12:49:00.000-08:00

This is the easiest Christmas Candy EVER! Make 1/2 a batch if your not sure. Or if you tend to eat all the sweets in the house until they are gone.

Start with a sleeve of crackers on greased foil in a jelly roll pan.
(A cookie sheet will do, if its big enough. Just bend up the edges of the foil to avoid a mess!)

Melt 2 sticks of butter (NOT Margine) and then add 1 cup packed brown sugar.

Bring to a boil and stir 3 min. The goo will start to firm up as it cooks.

I Missed a pic. Pour the goo over the crackers and bake at 375 for 10 min.

-- missing picture --

Sprinkle on 12 oz of chips and bake for 1 additional min. Take out and spread the chocolate. Then freeze.

Here in IL in December - I just place the pan on the workbench in the garage for an hour or so...

When the choclate and toffee are set. Bring the batch back into the house, peal off the foil and break into random pieces. (try not to eat too much right away....)

This is sooooo good. I found it on a blog last year, made notes on a scrap of paper. I just found the reciepe in a kitchen draw. I am making a card for my file now.

EASY Christmas Toffee
1 sleeve of saltine crackers
2 sticks of butter (not margine)
1 cup packed brown sugar
12 oz shoclate chips (nuts to sprinkle - optional)

-preheat oven 375 degrees
-layer jelly roll with foil, grease foil
-arrange crackers on foil
-melt butter, add brown sugar / boil for 3 min, stiring
-pour over crackers / bake for 10 min
-sprinkle with chips and return to oven for 1 min
-spread soften chips, sprinkle with nuts if desired
-harden in freezer
-break into radom shapes, enjoy!

the stocking is done

2010-12-10T12:21:00.000-08:00

And I dont like it!! That shape is just wrong!

I hope my swap partner likes the contents.

Quilt A.D.D. Update

2010-11-30T17:31:00.000-08:00

It's only Tuesday and the next mystery clue for Roll, Roll Cotton Boll will not be posted till Friday. So I started Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville Christmas Lights sew-a-long. I have 3 gold Star Blocks to go and an ISSUE with the red Lights Blocks.

NO more red check material left. This was a large thrift store shirt. I had figured the yardage requirement and knew a large shirt would be large enough.

BUT, I did NOT check all the pieces before I started cutting and sewing and it seems I had used one of the right front panles for another project. UGH!

I'm thinking the four cornors will have a different 'red'.

On the HGTV boards I joined in a Christmas Stocking Swap. I have never made a stocking before. This is tonights project - I am going to quilt the top.

And while I'm sewing up the block above and setting the stocking, my chair was busy. lol

Another Quilt

2010-11-28T19:46:00.000-08:00

Did I mention that I get carried away when I start piecing quilt tops.

It seems that I am not the only one that flew through the first two clues of Bonnie Hunter's 2010 Mystery, Roll Roll Cotton Boll. (you can find the posts on Bonnie's site at Quiltville.com)

I have Units 1 and 2 done, and the next clue will not be posted till Friday morning.

So what to do when my quilting A.D.D. kicks in. Start another one - of course!

Bonnie has also posted the first set of instructions for a sew-a-long for:
Christmas Lights

Lets back up a minute. I have seen this quilt many times. But it was for a publication that was out long before I had found Bonnie.

The first unit of this quilt is 52 4Patch units from 2" squares. I already have those done! I did a bunch as leader/enders.

The next group of units are hst (half square triangles). I need practice with these. And what better way to improve your skills than to practice! Soooooo

Here are the next units for this quilt.

40 black/neutral hsts - check!
48 gold/nuetral hst - I have 39???? need to go cut a few more....
48 mirror image green/black/neutral units - I have 19 of each, more cutting.

Baking

2010-11-28T18:52:00.000-08:00

This morning I was up at 5:30am.

I don't know why I was awake! So I started with bagels. And leftover Cranberry sauce.

This is really Good and EASY to wipe up! You can find the receipe at Farm Bell Recipes along with so much more.

After I was done with the bagels, I realized I had not had good bread since BEFORE I left for Florida over 2 week ago.

So off to the cupboard. Here is were I keep a few recipes that I just can NOT remember.

One day I will add cork squares to the inside of this door and be able to keep more than 2 or 3, but for now this works. :)

The house is cold, except for the family room, so that is were I let the dough rise. Here it is ready for butter and into the oven.

Tonight John made wounderful stuffed shells, and there was fresh bread. Yum!

Roll, Roll Cotton Boll

2010-11-28T15:28:00.000-08:00

Bonnie Hunter is doing another mystery quilt! You can find the posts on her blog Quiltville's Quips & Snips and her website Quiltville.com .

I was not going to do this years mystery. I tend to get carried away when I do these projects and have to work all week until the clue is done.

Then this year I was following the posts and I reallized Bonnie is taking it easy on the followers.

So with Jacki back in MN, I took the leap and moved my "stuff" to the family room.

Did I mention, my sewing room. We use to call this the den, but I have taken over. And really there is not much of the "DEN" left. But I digress......

So in order to stay warm, I picked up my Double Pinks, Greens and Browns and moved to the room with the wood burner.

Its a little cramped and I needed to break out an extension cord to reach my machine. But I have started...

Clue 01 done. Check!

172 units complete. Well really there are 180. When you strip quilt you often end up with extras. I will either make more to use for the boarders, use on the back somewhere. Or they will end up in an orphan unit stash. One day I should do something with that pile of stash.

Clue 02 done. Check!

Now I get to wait till Friday for clue 03. I guess I will go back to hand quilting.

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-27T17:54:00.000-08:00

We had a GREAT meal at Grandma's house. Then John and I along with Tony, Jacki and Tim came home and had more turkey, stuffing and dessert.

I do this each year. We have our Thanksgiving Dinner with Grandma and Grandpa, but...

I LIKE LEFTOVERS! It would not be the holidays without leftovers.

Jacki provided dessert this year. We had Apple/Pumkin pie and a sheet of Pumkin squares. Here are the Pumkin Square leftovers. They were a big hit!

But before we started to eat, Jacki wanted to put up the tree. And Friday after shopping most of the gifts were wrapped.

I really should start the cards, but right now I'm going to enjoy the tree!

A Trip to Florida

2010-11-20T19:14:00.000-08:00

This is were my daughter's wedding was. It is a resort in Orlando FL, and growing up this is were we took our kids for vacation.

I took another trip to the resort this month with my son, his God Mother and a close family friend.

Tony will be starting school in Orlando on Jan 3, 2011. Even though he would love to, he will NOT be staying here!

But the school is 15 min from the resort, so I think there is some vacation time in my furture.

And by the time we were ready to leave, Christmas had come - there were trees, wreaths and garland throughout the lobby and meeting rooms.

They owe us all an APOLOGY!

2010-11-10T05:24:00.000-08:00

I can NOT believe a publishing company takes pictures off the internet to use in there online and PRINT offerings! What were they thinking!!!!!!

I have been a subscriber to Countyside Publications for many years. The subscriptions are cancelled and the link removed from my favorites!

In the November/December 2010 issue of Dairy Goat Journal a photo from the blog Chickensintheroad.com was used without permission.

I WILL NOT BE A PART OF THIS ORGANIZATION OR READ ANY OF THEIR PUBLICATIONS UNTIL THIS ISSUE IS RESOLVED!!!! Not only do I think they need to make this right with the blog owner but I beleive they owe ALL their customers an apology!

At the very least they need to give her a SETTLEMENT payment for the mistake made AND promote her site with links and an apology in a letter from the editor.

Your can write to the editor at csyeditorial@tds.net to let them know how your feel.

Its My Birthday & JoAnn's is Celebrating!

2010-11-06T07:49:00.001-07:00

20% off ALL in-store purchases - regular AND sale price items too!!! Use it as many times as you like this weekend and share it with your friends!

Heres the link: Coupon Print it off! And for you quilters - check out there Veterans Day sale that starts Sunday the 7th! Here (special Veterans Day sale pages are at the end of the flyer)

Well, maybe its not because of me, but Sunday muslin goes on sale 30% off and what better gift could I ask for?

WAIT! I have $30 left on a "thank you" gift card some ladies from work gave me last year.
Woo Hoo!!

My list of goals this weekend was to finish up the swaps I have commited to and get them ready to go out in the mail on Monday. I think a shopping trip has just been added to this list. Lets see how much I get done today ???

A GO Giveaway!

2010-09-26T06:16:00.000-07:00

Wouldn't this be fun! Sign up today at Jane's Fabric and Quilts Good luck to all.The fun will begin Oct 1 for someone - It could be you, or ME!

Something New

2010-09-21T18:00:00.000-07:00

A coworker became a first time Grandma, and this is what I put together. She has an entire nursery set up for the baby. Scrappy pink, and Boyds Bears!
And my first attempt at free hand fans. I see all the errors, but I really like this process. I need to get together another project to have ready for the cooler nights.

Wait, I have a queen size quilt for DD and DSIL for Christmas. I can do both. Yah, right!

The letters were from Toynas blog, she has taken them down now - but her books should be out soon. Its on my Christmas wish list aready. And it will be #1 on my Birthday List if its out by the first week of November.
Can you see the fan quilting - not a great picture. I need to work on that.

Crumbs

2010-09-17T05:19:00.000-07:00

Hanging around on Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville.com website and her "quiltville chat" yahoo group has me wanting a crumb quilt. At one point I also thought I wanted to make a mavrick star quilt. But I lost interest in about 6 squares.

So, ta da....

Unless I get another bruning desire to make more crumb blocks I think this will be another lap quilt - OR an oversized lap quilt.

Maybe a nice top row and a large boarder. I need something to tie this together.

But for now, I have packaged up the blocks and will get it out later...

Tomatoes

2010-09-15T17:50:00.000-07:00

I love this time of the year! It is getting cooler out but there are still lots of tomatos .

Here is what the dining room floor looked like a month ago,

And here is what the floor looks like tonight. I could double these baskets up but I want to see the fruit as it ripens, I will not put these until they are a little redder.

I have canned 35 quarts and dehydrated two batches. But it looks like there will be plenty of fresh tomatos for the hamburgers this week, and a few salads of tomatos with basil and motz. yum!!

We pick before they are just right because these came from my mothers garden. This way when I come home from work, I can put up a small batch of 6-8 quarts in the evening. That way it will not be soooo much work on Saturday.

Mac-N-Cheese

2010-09-11T13:00:00.000-07:00

Leftover pasta and a bunch of cheese in the fridg.......

A prefect Saturday lunch - with enough for dinner. If Tony isn't around.

Dog Days of Summer

2010-08-29T07:35:00.000-07:00

We don't have spoiled animals. Meet Maggie.

Postage Stamps

2010-08-27T17:39:00.000-07:00

So I joined another Yahoo group that swaps "Postage Stamps" These are just 1.5" squares of quilt cottons. 1 swap is 25 sets of 50 different fabrics. So about 3 months ago I swapped and now have 1250 different "stamps".

This group went in the mail Yesterday.

I want to make a Scrappy Irish Chain quilt with these. I need to practice sewing my 1/4" seams first. This will be leader/ender project. But I AM going to wait for a while till I start this one.

Everywhere I look

2010-08-26T17:41:00.000-07:00

I open this blog every day to check other sites, but I don't take time to update very often.

I take pictures of many thing, but sorting thru the pic's, organize and resize them is something I just dont make time for very often. So tonight I worked on pics and set up some groups for a few posts.

I decided to show you what has been keeping me busy lately.....

Everywhere I look I see projects and things to pick-up. It seems my quilting obsession is taking over my life. I use to have one or two project going. When I took a break from fabric I would paint, knit, scrapbook whatever.

But since I found internet groups on Yahoo, Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville.com and the HGTV boards. The projects just keep comming.

So last weekend I walked around and took pics of just what was laying OUT.

The dining room table has fabric purchased with a Joanne's gift card. I need to start a Baby Quilt for a friend at work - she is a first time Grandma and I think she NEEDS a quilt for her house. More on that project in another post.

Then I went to my new "sewing" room. John has been home after surgery on his wrist. He cant do much lifting, but Tony was layed off about 2 months ago. Sooooo,the den that was never used was turned into a sewing room.

It wasn't hard - I emptied the room except for a trunk - all ready full of fabric, the desk, and the shelves. Then I asked for a couple of shelves on wheels and a closet. (ok the closet involved moving electric and a hole in the wall)

It did not always look like this.

The closet turned out great, and I love that wicker basket - $5 at an auction. But that is another weakness of mine. I think I spent over $150 at that auction.

This table does NOT belong here - but my daughter Jacki was home an we needed some place to set her up to sew - that was WEEKS ago, now it is just another dumping ground. I have cleaned it twice this week. If there is time this weekend, I am going to try to talk my son into taking it to the basement. There are two large shelving units for the paperwork, and then the quilt supplies will need to be put away.

And here are the new shelves on wheels. It is pushed together most of the time. With a mat make for cutting or just a towel for ironing. I should really take the time to put together the ironing "board" - but that's another post too.

The Top is DONE

2010-08-11T04:56:00.000-07:00

Jacki was home for the fair and some sewing -

The result - the top is DONE. Yah!!

Jacki's quilt in progress

2010-07-17T09:31:00.000-07:00

OK I'm finally posting this pics here on the blog. I will update again if Jacki has time to put this together over the week off before the fall semester starts.

Jacki needs to pick out something for those large edge triangles. (I looked at my stash and there are a couple of options, but we may need to make a run to Joannes with a 50% coupon....

Jacki's 4th or 5th quilt - I dont think she need my help any more.....

All I can say is WOW!

a quilt square challange

2010-07-15T05:03:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to Winona County Fair - there was sooo much to see.

Is this not the best idea for a decoration outside the Home Economics Building!

Here is the idea

A few months before the fair, the local quilt shops had fair books for the taking and a small package that shoppers could purchase for about 8 or $10.

Each package had 3 identical fabrics.

The challange was to create a quilt block form the fabrics. Only one additional fabric COULD be added if needed.

The blocks were entered and judged at the fair.

Then after the fair a local guild will be finishing the project and the quilt will be auctioned off with proceeds going to a local charity.

Sorry for the bad pics - it was hot and my hands were full but here they are.....

I'm thinking next year I want to try this.

Visiting Jacki and Tim

2010-07-12T19:27:00.000-07:00

My daughter turned 22 today, but she had class while her husband and I had to work......

Sooooo John and I visited this weekend.

John's favorite spot in MN - not the Mississippi, but this lake. Lots of blue gills to test his fly's on. And alway a turtle or too....

And what would it be like if we went to visit their 100+ year old house and not fix something??

Sunday morning, we were planning to leaving before 9am. But at 7:30 Jacki let us hear her dishwasher.... its a wonder it still cleaned the dishes.

Tim and John went up town, while Jacki and I turned off the water and disconnected everthing.

An hour later, we were on our way with a new dishwaher installed.

MN County Fair

2010-07-12T18:20:00.000-07:00

Jacki told her friend that our family looks a fairs differently than most people....

Boy is she right!

I walk into the the rabbit/poultry barn -- and the first thing I notice is that this is were they have the milk house! And look at the fun they have at the end of the week!

Our fair in IL has about 2 to 3 times the livestock exhibits, but look at these barns. OK, there's only 2 barns, but they are Impressive!!!!

An I really love the carnivals, sense of humor. This one reads

"If you can read this grandpa left!" another read
"This seat requires 0 tickets"

And there is alway fair food, they had the staples covered like corn dogs, funnel cakes and lemon shake ups.

But there was new to us fair food....
Fried Cheese Curds and WALLEY SUBS! Yum!!!!

2010 4th of July Weekend

2010-07-08T19:53:00.000-07:00

A year ago I did not know about bloggs or message boards. Other than computer programing of course. How is it that I have worked as a computer programmer since the mid 80's and I knew NOTHING about the web for fun.

Fast forward to July 5, 2010 and I check out the HGTV quilting board. A board member from MO has a friend who has a long haul ahead of her recovering from some medical issues. Susan will be in the hospital or rehabilitation for an extended period. Sooo a message was posted asking for quilt blocks to cheer Susan up. I CAN DO THIS.....

The first thing I thought of was- "It appears that Susan has a lot of people waiting for her to come home". The result: I'm making a home coming ribbon!

I received 1250 different postage stamp fabric squares just 3 days before. Below is my first attempt at using these squares. Its not perfect, far from it. But I hope it brightens up Susan's day.

1) First I built the ribbon with yellow and golds. Boy did it need squaring up!!

2) A little boarder will help set the quilt, and bring out the scrappy-ness

3) Another first - this is such a small piece. I quilted it on my machine.
You remember Rosy, my 201 I purchased last November.

4) Since I had her tuned-up, the stitches are sweeeeet!
I do need practice stitching a STRAIGHT LINE thou....

5) Square the block up again...

6) A boarder of teal and pink. Some of Susan's favorite colors!

Not my best work! look at this seam!

I added a teal loop for hanging, kind-a-like a pot holder and then into the mail last night. I hope she likes it!

June 25, 2010 - It Sure is Green

2010-07-05T20:23:00.000-07:00

This year it's been really green around Northern IL

Even the Rurbarb is huge!

Can you see how long the grass is! This was 3 DAYS of growth!!!

It seems that all Tony or John does lately is mow....

Strawberries!

2010-06-28T07:33:00.000-07:00

We are currently taking a strawberry break. But for 3 weeks this is what I did each night after work. The blossoms are back!

My husband would pick berries at my mothers during the day, and I would clean them in the evening. We had shortcake, smoothies, and ice cream and berries.

They are much better when they are fresh.

But on the weekends we made jam for the winter.

Ok some for now - you cant let those partial jars go to waste!

4Patch Swap off to TX

2010-06-26T18:35:00.000-07:00

This is what the table looked like when I was collecting 200 4Patchs to swap with Bingo Bonnie. And this is good compared to what the family room looked like while I was putting them together.

It felt so good to have them in the mail to Bonnie in TX. But now I think I want to do it again in the fall. (maybe only 100 - I'll let you know)