RRCB progress and This and That pattern

Clue#3

Roll, Roll Cotton Boll!

I am way too frugal. My strings are so skinny. The smallest I save: cut nicely is 1". All the rest go into bags to give to a fellow guild member who crochets with fabric strips. After gleaning through the bags I have not gifted to her yet I did make two string blocks to see if I was comfortable using this small of a string. So, are these strips too small?????

So...here are the bags.

 Yes...I do feed the birds too. The squirrels chase the birds away and the hawk scares them all away. The squirrels have managed to un-nail my feeder from the barrel top. Hubby will have to use BIG nails next time.

Tame squirrel eating her fresh raw peanut. And SNOW on the ground! YEA!!!!!!!

 I used this pattern as my main sewing and used clue#2 as leaders and enders between these blocks. I also double sewed the corner triangles. I have a whole container of these extras! WHOOOHOOO!

 I found this pattern on a new blog I follow. I met the writer of the blog (Jill) at the Shipshewana retreat. The pattern is from This and That and is called Paris in the Fall.
Thanks Jill for this great kit. I am all done with it already!

 I call these swatches my "road maps". I cut each pattern and put them into their own baggie. Since there were 12 blocks I needed that road map to keep me on the right path.

 Here it is all done. I loved the whole process. I may make another one in a different colorway.

And my Precious Pearl test driving the newest quilt top!

RRCB progress and critters (of course!)

I have been so very busy. And I know all of you out there can relate to even feeling whipped just because your head is full!

But I have a lot accomplished:

Christmas shopping is 3/4 done

Spent yesterday with Daughter#1 as moral support and driver in case she needed to "freak out".

Decided to make lots more patches for the Scrappily Irish Chain quilt. Pictures are here in the blog further down the page.

I keep fiddling with my bread recipies TRYING to get a good looking loaf. Luckily James will eat almost anything and the birds get all the crumbs.

And I have clue#1 all sewn (not cut) for RRCB the newest mystery being designed for us by Bonnie Hunter of http://www.quiltville.com/.



Here are my pinks and greens. Oh my I love this combination! I am also getting an "itch" to do a second quilt in this mystery in a different color combination. I have done this with most of Bonnie's mysteries. It is amazing how different a quilt can look just by changing the colors used.

 There is a food chain in the world we live in. I totally understand and I can appreciate this hawk's beauty and strength. It is a Coopers Hawk. And I have seen them floating in the air over the homes here. I am sure that they LOVE the birdfeeders giving them an easy prey option. But this one missed two times the day I took this picture. I can see his frustration. And they are so awkward on the ground. They even make a common chicken look as if they were dancing. They would never make it on Dancing with the Stars..........

 I had to buy a new printer. My faithful HP printer decided it was done being a useful tool. And the timing sucked. I had just replaced the ink cartridges....$$$$$$ down the drain. I wonder if having MaggieMae sleeping on it had anything to do with it expiring?????

 My strips are all cut for the neutral swap on Yahoo. And can you see how I have a large "logroll" of uncut fabric there in the background? The fabrics are all pressed and rolled to store. All I have to do to cut more strips is unroll the log, select a few and then smooth them out and cut away. I have really been happy storing my uncut fabrics this way. Little FQ's are pretty but all those folds then need to be ironed out...a pain. And I can still see all the fabrics at a glance. This works for me!

 700 more little 2-patches. I have all the connector squares done and will use these as the Leaders & Enders while I piece the RRCB. This quilt will be king sized when I get done!

 Here are some of the pinks I used. I pulled all these from one container. I pulled more this morning.

Hopefully I will be able to work these 1/2 square triangles into this quilt we are working on. Check out the date! I double sew corner triangles all the time and have many containers just like this in different color combinations. Only thing I did not do was count them! HA! Almost a year ago from the date. I believe these are from a Pink Smokey Mountain Star quilt.

I love neutrals!

 And it shows that I love neutrals. I invaded the dreaded quilting/storage room and harvested neutrals that have been buried and have not made it into any quilts or swaps yet.
I guess I was saving them for my next life!
I cut 1/2 yard hunks off 54 neutrals. Yes...you read that right 54! There was 2-3 yards from each fabric left. Once again these were purchased before I discovered scrap quilting.
And I did find two chocolate browns and added them to the group for cutting.
I think I wore out my iron and I used a whole bottle of spray starch!
Now all I need to do is cut into these lovelies. I will have two sets of 25 neutrals for my Yahoo swap! Yes!

 Love my Baby...she always gets into any container she can. Even if the container is too small.

 Here is one of the three baby squirrels. Their mother is the one that climbs the door. Stubbie allows them to feast here too. I watched the Mother bring each of those babies from somewhere in the addition. She carried them one at a time in her mouth. The youngin's curled around her body. She rested every few feet. And them climbed the spruce tree with each of the babies. I bet she was worn out! Then after a few days the babies ventured down the tree. They are still shy of me and the feeding ritual I have with their Mommie and Stubbie. I am looking forward to watching them grow. Their little tails are sooooo sweet! I think this one is a boy.

Here is Baby and Bess helping me to quilt. They always have to test drive the quilts. This one is destined for Grand daughter Zoey.

Irish Chain, failed bread and house critters

 Heaven, I'm in Heaven...to the tune by the famous dancer/singer Maurice Chevaliat (sp). I am in scrap heaven. I wore out a needle and emptied many half used bobbins.
I kept a log of the time and the name of each swapper's stack of squares I used.
(that was to avoid repeats and I do like to know how long it does take me to piece a quilt)
I now have the top done...but no picture in my camera yet. I am thinking I may make another whole set of blocks and make this quilt GIGANTIC for my own bed. It seems I have been churning out lots of lap size quilts and I do need another for my bed.

 I rotated my sewing area back to "winter" mode. The sun no longer blinds me when I sit in this position. Only problem is hubby has to back into the driveway because the sun reflection from his windshield hits me right in my left eye. I have been very light sensitive lately. Maybe it is growing older...maybe it is something else.
Anyway, here is the work area. Fun, fun, fun! And Baby on the back of the chair. She gives me back rubs when I am sitting in the chair. She also tries to kiss my neck...but I stop her...it tickles!

 Love the little baggies with their BEAUTIFUL patches. I have another swap on my Yahoo group going that is due by December 15, 2010. Then I am doing a neutral swap due in January 2011.

 This little clear napkin holder is the best for holding Bonnie's book. So I can admire her work as I work.
I do have an extra copy (autographed) of her book Adventures with Leaders & Enders if any of you are interested. E-mail me privately please.

I started another hand quilting project using Bonnie's Freehand Fan method.

 This is Stubby's spring litter female that Stubby allows in her territory. She also takes food from our hands now. But she does one trick that Stubby never did. She climbs the storm door and peeks in and I swear she knocks on the door. When I open the door with food I am afraid she will dash in. The kitties are hoping she dashes in! You can see just a tiny bit of MaggieMae's fur at the door. They sniff noses at the corner. Too funny!

 Poor Stubby. When it rains she gets so very wet. Her tail does not work like an umbrella. I worry so about her when it does get cold. Squirrels wrap their bodies with their tails to keep warm too. But we must be doing something right as she is starting her thrird winter with us!

 Before the turning of the sewing area after my return from Shipsee. Baby loves cubby holes.

 Macy says "hi". She is getting famous from her video. And I do believe that she has hubby trained!

Who could resist that belly?????

                                            
 We had a tornado warning. The sirens went off. So the kitties and I went under the dining room table and we all snacked on yogurt until the "all clear" sounded. Some areas very close to us had wind damage. I believe 10 tornadoes struck the area that day.

 My bread did not rise...it was edible but short.
I bought some fresh yeast and the next two loaves were great. Then I tried some wheat flour and was disappointed again. Anyway...it sure smells good baking.

My patch from Shipshewana retreat!

Baking Bread & Irish Chain

I am sewing away on the Scrappily Happily Irish chain from Bonnie's book "Adventures with Leaders & Enders".
I am using 1 1/2" squares from my last postage stamp swap. It is turning out GORGEOUS if I do say so myself. My blocks are 5 1/2" after sewing. And being the "control freak" I am, I have been writing down each swappers' name in my journal as I open their little bundles and add them to my sewing stack. I am NOT doing the Leaders & Enders method. This construction is all at the same time. I am using Kona Snow as my light constant. It behaves well for cutting and sewing but I think it is major "linty" while sewing. It covers my machine and my glasses. I am using Presencia thread which is practially lintless. The only blame I can see is the Kona fabric.
My camera is full of construction pictures but I am hurring to get back to the machine.
I opened up the bread machine and started a loaf of white bread to get my feet wet...my yeast was dated July 2009 as "best used by". We will see if it can lift the bread or not. It is bitter cold here and I have filled the birdfeeders and fed the squirrels. Back to the machine!!!!!!!!!
XOXOXOXOXOO Subee
P.S. I am gathering my fabrics for Bonnie's mystery. I will be using her colors as they are my colors too. I have been refilling my pink collection and it is all ready for cutting!

Shipshewana Retreat and Macy's trick on video

The Shipshewana retreat was fantastic!

There were "early in the morning quilters" and "night owl quilters".

I am in the first group and retired early. I was amazed at how many little blocks I did complete. I only worked on one project. But almost everyone worked on many, many projects.

Judy L. brought her finished "Mystery" quilt. It was beautiful. She added 7 borders to the quilt and it was great eye candy!

Bonnie brought her Featherweight with the "hot" paint job. There are flames on the bed of the machine. Gorgeous machine! Bonnie also shared her tricks on sewing hexies. It was so nice to see Bonnie again. She is so beautiful in person and in spirit.

OK....caught in the act of SAVING scraps from the landfill. I did have permission from the other quilters. Bonnie had already resigned from collecting scraps and offered the basket to me. Of course I jumped on that offer. I have some of Bonnie's peacock blue in my paper-pieced pineapple blocks now.

After seeing how small my needed scrap size was, other quilters started making deposits at my sewing station. I added all of them to my blocks with joy. Now when I look at my blocks I will be reminded of the great time I had sewing at the Farmstead Inn in Shipshewana, Indiana at a 4 day quilting retreat. The Farmstead Inn is a great place to go to have a relaxed and calm vacation. Life moves at a different speed in this small Amish town of 565 permanent residents. On Saturday early evening I saw at least 50 buggies moving at a proud trot into town. The horse hooves make the loveliest sound in the air.

I did make two trips into town to shop for fabric. Yoders is a store that carries everything from fabric to tractors. Then there is Lolly's in the Davis mercantile building. I hit the basement store where all fabric is only $5.99 a yard. WHOOOHOOO! But I really did not buy very much. One of our quilters spent so much that she was given a "tiara" from the shop owner.

I hope all of you will be able to view this video of our cat Macy. Hubby has taught her a trick. She will roll over on command. Her reward is a thorough brushing. She LOVES to be brushed even though she has the shortest coat of all our cats. Hubby holds the brush and asks her to roll over....then asks her to roll all the way over. So turn up the volume and you can hear him giving the command. 

48 Pineapple blocks ala' Bonnie Hunter

I admit it. I am totally addicted to making these blocks. And it will be a very heavy quilt. Also one that will need to be farmed out for quilting by machine.

The only way I was able to stop sewing these was to "dump" all the scraps and the paper patterns into one LARGE plastic tote and remove it to another room. Geez...I even have to play tricks on myself!

 Bess, my constant companion. She hardly ever naps and if I sit down to quilt she is UNDER the quilt as fast as she can. She is not a lap cat at all. I can barely get her to allow me to pick her up. She is still so feral after three years. But she loves quilting. Remember this is the cat that ate two quilting needles with thread and had to have emergency surgery on New Years Eve. All my own fault. So sorry Bessie. I no longer have needles in pin cushions.

 Bess...worshipping the sun god.

 This is my tailless squirrel, Stubbie. She is starting her third winter with me as her human guard/feeder. When she was born she had a brother with the same deformity. Sad to say, he never made it through the summer that year. But Stubbie did. Since that time she has had 2 litters a season and brings her babies here for weaning. She will take food from our hands and comes running when we call her... So sweet!
I am such a soft touch much to my hubbie's chagrin  He says they tear up the yard and landscaping. But even if I did not feed them all they still bring acorns and walnuts from the plethora of trees we have here in our addition properly named Tanglewood.

 And here is one of many chipmunks that visit my feeder. My neighbor across the street (where they run with their bounty) had some serious yardwork done by a contractor. I believe all their storage areas were destroyed or moved with a backhoe. they are really making up for lost larders. I love how they run real fast with their tails stuck up straight in the air. The cats really enjoy the chipmunks too. There is usually standing room only at the window when the chipmunks arrive.

 Here is my blessedly sweet Pearl. She was acting strange last week and I took her in for a quick exam. She ended up staying at the vet's office overnight for emergency surgery. They removed three teeth. And she had lost so much weight from her last visit. Gosh I wish these kitties would tell me what is going on in their little bodies. She is so much better now...even wants treats again!

 Love these pre-printed panels. They work up sooooo fast for a quickie BD gift for Great Grandson #1. I put blue minkee on the back...Drew loves his minkee. And found matching toy trucks for the fun part of my gift to him.

 Here is my Twilight Quilt from the Blockswappers on Yahoo. This was an exchange a year ago. I will be gifting this the Grand daughter #3. I also joined another exchange for the same color combination and will get more blocks to make another quilt soon.

 Our guild meeting had a great speaker last Monday night. Fran Foskey spoke about color wheels and we got to play with scraps she brought along. Our newer members really enjoyed the talk. And it was a good refresher course for us "old" ladies.
And check out the back of Carolyn's jacket (on the left). It looks like a Featherweight sewing machine! I did not notice it that night! Carolyn, where did you find that jacket? I want one!

 I still surprise myself. I put this quilt together in two days. I just found out that one of my faithful readers is the designer of this quilt! How cool is that? Thanks to Kathi Holland for publishing this great pattern!
 

Hubbie wanted me to add a splash of red in the middle.

 I sure appreciate his "artist's eye".

I am still sorting my newest batch of 1 1/2" squares from the Postage Stamp Swap. This is by no means the bulk of them. Just a working station, then they get to play with the bigger containers.