Bow-Dacious is completed

Hubby just phoned me to say the actually saw an entire flock of robins a moment ago. He is sooooooooooo anxious for Spring weather.


I tried very hard to match Bonnie's color choices. Alas, I do not have Double Pinks in my stash. I did find a small piece of light pink gingham. I used that for the first sash. Then from the almost avalance of containers I picked the second sashing. The darker first border was an internet purchase I made years ago and was totally dissapointed with the fabric. But it has now made it into several of my quilts. I guess it was a wise purchase after all.
The final border was a nice piece of a teadye beige. It really calms down the interior. And DH likes it too.

Love, love, love this pattern by Bonnie Hunter. It is in her newest book called Aventures with Leaders & Enders. You can find it/her at http://www.quilteville.com/

Here it is. All done and now I can start to piece on something else without the guilt trip I was taking myself down. It measures roughly 62" square. Not nearly as big as Our Bonnie's quilt in the book. But satifying to me.

Yesterday I started on two other quilts from her book using the 1 1 /2" squares. I only sewed a short time but toally enjoyed the experience.

Macy VS the chocolate protein drink

No pictures of the "accident". We were too busy mopping up the carpet,table, chair, sofa and quilts. All we saw was a blur of fur. We thought it was Bess. She was only slightly damp and every fur on her body was at attention. We had a great laugh and wiped the little bit off Bess. We thought she was the only victim. Later we found Macy creeping real low to the floor and totally covered in chocolate soy milk with protein powder. Now Macy hates water. Even running a faucet will send her scooting away. We had to wet her to remove the soy milk/protein drink. She was stiff with drying milk. When I picked her up, I became soaked in the mess. Sigh, poor Macy is trying her darndest to lick herself dry now.
Now as to how the "accident" took place: Hubby was shaking up his drink and called to me to look at the radar to see the approaching storm. He must have loosened the cap before he set the drink down. Upon picking it up he gave it a large shake and all the contents flew into the air and then came down on Macy, Bess,the carpet, table,chair,sofa and quilts. I have to give him credit. He did miss the ceiling.
His face had the little boy look I love so much when things go awry for him. He has had numerous shaking accidents in the 25+ years I have known him. Mustard on the kitchen ceiling, Cat food (canned) on the cupboard...etc. Sigh! You gotta love 'em......

Progress on Bow-Dacious and Macy

Love, love, love this quilt pattern. Bonnie has given us many lovely quilts to copy. This one stole my heart when I saw it in her newest book, Adventures with Leaders & Enders. I now need to add two borders to call this one done. And I only made one extra block...for me that is cutting it real close!

Can you see the colorwash? My dear Hubby planned this out for me. I so love it when he plays with my blocks.

#1 reason is his participation.

#2 reason is he can reach the ENTIRE DESIGN WALL. That saves me from climbing up and down the ladder/stool.
Which I had to do this morning. The fabric I wanted for the second sashing was buried in the corner of the cutting room. You all would have laughed at how I managed to pull the container out from under 5 other containers piled to the ceiling. Also another hazard was the bolt shelf that butts up against this stack of containers. The containers are holding the bolts straight too.
I did it! And found a treasure of light to medium neutrals that were purchased in 2001. (I found the receipt in the container)
WHOOOHOOOO! I love fabric shopping in my stash.

This was my Valentine's present from DH. It smells so good. And the kitties do not seem to mind that it is in one of their catbeds. It is the best place to get the morning sun.

I know this picture is dark.

But I wanted you to see the cat beds I make and where the flower pot is placed.

Here is our Macy. She is basking in the heating blanket's warmth. She asks for it to be turned on. She sure has us trained.

She went to the vet for her yearly exam. She hates the drive and lets us know quite loudly. She becomes so very quiet after getting into the exam room. She has gained 1/2 a pound since her last visit. I am very pleased with that. She is 6 years old now.
We nearly lost her a year ago. She ate a wired fine ribbon and nearly died. Some super great vets saved her life. We had to force feed her afterwards as she had given up living. We baby her and praise her all day long now.

Well...I made you go through other pictures to get to my other picture of my progress on the Bow-Dacious.

Progress on Bow-Dacious

I now have 101 blocks made. And I think I will start the sashing process and then make more blocks if I need too. I am not planning on making my Bow-Dacious as big as Bonnie's. But then we never know where the quilt making journey will take us! I divided her block requirements in half. I plan on it being square. That much I am sure of. HA!
And wouldn't you know it, the fabric I want for the gold sashing is in a clear box I can see but cannot get to easily. I will need to get a ladder and unstack a whole corner. Oh well, I need to fondle that fabric anyway. It has been a long while since I touched these fabrics. I may find a treasure there!
The grouping on the left are my hubby's work staging them in a colorwash. I may keep that in mind when assembling the quilt. He vows to help me.

I did some tailoring 101 today. Hubby bought some pants that were too long for his 6'2" frame. They were really way too long. In my distant sewing past, I worked for a men's shop here in town doing alterations. Not a rewarding job but as I was a young mother it allowed me to work from home. Alas, the store is long gone. But I still have my tailoring skills.

My ironing board cover is as bad as Bonnie's. This is a little fold away board that I set up next to the sewing machine. All I have to do is spin my chair. This is so embarrassing. I will have to make a cover real soon folks!

What I wanted to show you all is my careful matching color methods. I pick 10 squares that read the same and keep the "buddies" all together throughout the assembly process. It slowed me down a bit but I was happy with the results.

I had counted out my background squares then added a few for cushion. When I had used them all up matching and layering them carefully, the sewing could start.

I did the pair sewing and the corner square sewing all one after the other. I clipped between and carefully pressed and stacked on the ironing board. I sewed all the blocks today between laundry and feeding hubby.

Adventures with Leaders & Enders Bow-Dacious

I have 30 bowties made today from Bonnie Hunter's newest book: Adventures with Leaders & Enders. The snow finally stopped around noon today. DH has been a busy guy around here and doing good neighbor deeds with his shovel and snow blower.
This has given me time to sew!!!!!!!!!

Greens were the first color I sewed with.

Then of course I moved on to blues. And yes there are tiny corners being saved. But it is more to keep the sewing areas neat than planning on using them. But they are soooooo pretty.

Yesterday was spent sorting all my last three swap squares (6000+) into color families.

I also cleaned my machine and polished the cabinet. Fresh needle and a clean work area! "Yes", I say to myself. "All is under control".

The chicken and noodles cooked most of the day. It added humidity and a wonderful homey smell. And it was a great meal. We have made a lifestyle eating change. And chicken and noodles was a meal that is a "no-no". But we ate a small amount and I saved most of the meat for another lean meal.

I just love plastic containers. They keep things so very tidy and you can see inside too!

Reds, purples,oranges, reds,blacks and yellows.

Pinks and browns.................my favorite colors.

Greens and blues.

As I sorted out all my squares I found out that most of the colors I received were blues and greens.

Second was reds, then purples. The least amount (color) was gray...only 20 squares.

I had this balanced on a drawer. Then a kitty was trying to help. I nearly lost the whole box. It was saved and I continued to sort. One of my favorite past times...color control.

Bonnie's pattern (Bow-Dacious) was so perfect for me.

I AM clever enough!

I took advantage of an empty driveway and the afternoon sun to carefully lay out my top to show all of you the extended pattern.
I did it!
I struggled so with the concept but wanted the end result so badly!
This was way out of my comfort zone.
I follow patterns...not design them.
But now this quilt IS all mine!
We are waiting for 9+" of snow that is due to arrive late tonight. Groceries are all stocked up. I am planning on making homemade chicken and noodles. It will warm the house and the heart.

Amelia Earhart by Kaye England is now a top

Rough measurement is 83"X66".
It still needs a couple borders. I have in mind a muted stripe that I will add first. Then I am totally not sure what it needs. Maybe more of the toile' to finish it out.
I made it much bigger than the pattern called for. But have no star blocks leftover and only 2 of the alternate blocks leftover.
And for me that is a close call. I always make too many blocks. But this time I did have to piece 5 more star blocks to make it this size.
And I still have more material!!!!!!!!

This was my very first effort to make the long legged star. I use the EZ Tri-Recs acrylic tools. They work great. I just needed to keep track of the mirror images. After I got the hang of it...I was whizzing through the assembly.

I really, really, really like this color pallet. All the rusts play so very nicely with the background fabric.
This is almost in the orange color catagory, isn't it Bonnie???????

Just a little close-up so you can see a star and the alternate block.

Now my head is spinning wanting to make this in 30's fabrics.

I do have the crocheted white baby afghan all done. I have started a pale blue one that has pineapples and puffy cluster stitches. Already it feels really neat to touch the puffies. I can just see my new great grand baby exploring textures with his tiny fingers.

I am going through Bonnie Hunter withdrawal. I want to make every quilt in her new book. I have lots of 1 1/2" squares to play with. But a part of me wants to get my Featherweight out to work with those tiny pieces. So...that may happen.

Let us all pray that Bonnie and her quilting friends make it home ok with all the snow that is headed their way today!