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.

Just Stringing along

I made my 60 blocks for Roll, Roll Cotton Boll long ago. I still have not assembled the quilt. I want to do things a bit differently then the way Bonnie Hunter designed the quilt. I love it and all but my blocks look too Christmasy.
Anyway, over on the Quiltvilleswap group there is a swap going on for string blocks. Today I am just limp with pain. The meds are not working as they have. I am afraid I will need some stronger meds. So I wanted to sew but my brain is fuzzy. Why not make some string blocks.? Then if I get enough done I will sign up for that swap too. I actually made 14 blocks without breaking into a sweat. I used up several almost gone bobbins. Great way to be frugal and have fun sewing!

I need to check the swap to see if we are to trim these or not....

 I won a copy of the 100 Blocks Volume 3 during the quilt blog. So cool! And there even was a card in the envelope saying I was a winner. I have been so very lucky lately.

I quilted this for a friend/student of mine. It turned out so nice and sweet. Jan is really getting the hang of quilting. She has the "quiltbug" sooooo bad! I enjoy helping her along on the learning journey.

Another Kaleidoscope quilt!

I have Elaine Adair to thank for an addiction to this great ruler that makes this pattern so fun and easy. I no longer know how many quilts I have made from this pattern. It never gets old as each is unique.
I love the optical illusion it creates. It almost makes me feel I have had one Margarita too many!

 The ruler is called a "45 degree Kaleidoscope Wedge Ruler" by Marilyn Doheny.
http://www.dohenybooks.com/

 My goal is to have this done by June 13th. I want to give this to my great son-in-law, Kevin. He looks so nice in green and I thought I might as well make him a green quilt for his birthday!

 Decisions, decisions! Four fabrics or five fabrics. I opted for the four fabric design and will put the sample block on the back  al'a Bonnie Hunter style!

I thought I should add a picture of the ruler. Such a great tool for this gadget girl.
At least this is one gadget I do use!

 I am still working on the "Different Box of Crayons" quilt. I have three more borders to add and the quilt is now too big for me to machine quilt even without the borders added. I have to work on multiple items. I wish I could clone me and work on everything at once!

 Even Hubby likes the way the design flows out from the center. I can only say "wow" I made this and I love this quilt! Grand daughter AnnaMarie will love this I am sure!

I guess you cannot see much of anything of the Oriental quilt in this picture. I was just beginning to add the binding. I accordion fold my binding and lay it on the machine bed. It stays straight and helps the process. It took 4 of us at guild to hold the quilt up. I wish I had a picture of that so you could see more. When I give this to Laura I will be sure to get a good photo.