Along came a Tumbler template

I know you all are an animal lovers and I need to share some sad news with you.



My Husband found Stubbie dead on the road just a moment ago. So sad. We wrapped her up and taped her into a box for burial. I wondered why I had not seen her this morning. There was not a mark on her...she was just dead. I kept her alive through three winters. She had no tail to wrap herself up to keep warm. So I am positive that my intense feeding of her kept her alive.
And today is my daughter’s BD.
I am so sad!
XOXOXO Subee
I cut way too many patches for my token Tumbler quilt. I only wanted to "try" one to see if I liked making it. I made one in a lap size that I will hand quilt with Bonnie Hunter's method of Freehand Baptist Fans. I cannot wait to cuddle under this quilt. I will use Quilters' Dream Wool batting.

Every little patch of fabric sings to me. I do not want any of them to get away or not to be in this quilt. As I said I cut way too many patches. I believe I have enough to make three quilts. Geeezzzzz!
I also cut 2" tumbler patches as I was cutting. This will make a nice tiny quilt for the kitties.

This was the first cutting board turntable I ever bought.

It is PERFECT to trim these patches from 4" & 2" squares.

 It really turns way too easy...could be dangerous.

Which is why I had it under a tool caddy in the cutting room.

It allowed the caddy to spin. I use an Olfa spinning square mat now for different cuts.

But this one is too perfect for one patch trimmings.

I am glad I had it.

I am glad I am a Gadget Girl!!!!!

 Progress on the first Tumbler quilt on the design wall.

 Organization is always VERY important to me when I start a project. I have lots of little baskets and leftover plastic containers from veggie/fruit purchases. When I dove into that great box of 2000 4" squares I found they were sorted into color families already! So I only took a few from each grouping. That way the colors would be spread evenly throughout the quilt.

 Look what I found in the box! So this tells me the box was my 2000 year purchase. I also have another one that I think I bought in 1998. I have not broken the seal on that one yet!

 I keep things even in my mind and on my sewing table. The pattern needs a row of each starting with a dark and a light. So I count out the # of rows I want to start off with and alternate the fabrics.

This is one of my Mother's glass bowls.

I use them to collect small trimmings when rotary cutting.

Keeping my work area clean is VERY important to this quilter.

I have carpet underfoot. Need to be careful!

 I finally satisfied my Spring Cleaning Urge. I moved out all the sewing furniture. I washed the windows and the curtains. Then I turned my sewing area  towards the TV and away from the window. With the summer sun coming in (someday! we have had the wettest April on record) I needed to keep the sunlight from my eyes. It feels almost as if I have more room this way. I have turned it this direction before but I had never moved the big lateral file cabinet to the side of my machine. It fits there so perfect. Hubby says there feels as if there is more room to walk. But it is not so because my rug does not fit on the floor. It is only narrower by 1". But it seems bigger somehow.

 I put that cover on for the picture. Since I sew everyday it is never covered!

 My second set of 60 String Blocks.

I did join in the swap at Quiltville.

 I also am going to try to sell some on E-Bay.

 I sew 10 at a time. And I do pin. It keeps the strips flat after just finger pressing.

The new telephone books arrived this month.

I never thought I would be so excited over having old ones to cut up!

That must have been what drove me to make more string blocks.

 MaggieMae always walks over my sewing. No respect!

I also call her "Magnet" because fabric patches stick to her!

She is such a good girl though.

I wash her eyes everyday.

She just sits on the toilet and lets me wash her face...purring the entire time.

And I have finally found a brush that she actually likes me to use.

It does not really get the tangles very well but I am trying to keep her tanglefree until we do the summer cut again. It is called a Lion Cut. Makes her look soooo cute!

One of the first fledglings this Spring. A sweet little female.

A BlueJay got too close and the entire flock drove it away.

Nature is so wonderful to watch.