THIS was SCARIER than SCARY!!!

HORRIFIED is the best description I can give for what I just went through!!!

I had to mutilate…uh…I mean trim out the corners on these blocks!!!

Oh My Goodness what a STRESSFUL event!!

WHAT….IF…..I….DIDN'T….CUT….THEM….CORRECT??!!

I guess I will know the answer to that question when I pin and sew on these arcs.

I will be holding my breath!!

This cute little bird that is part of the top border for this quilt made me feel so happy and

helped me to calm down from the stress and horror of what

I just went through.

Who knew quilting could be so painful?!

HA!

"Just get over it" some of you say….. and "get on with it you wimp!!!"

I AM!

I AM!

Pieced Stripe Blocks Galore

I'm playing and thinking and figuring this morning on what I want to do with all these blocks!

There are 48 of them 'cause

I WON

the December Block Lotto!!

Gotta love that!

They are a 6 1/2" x 9 1/2" size.

I have them all mashed and smooshed up on my design wall and I think I've pretty much made a decision on how to use them.  It will involve taking the scissors

to each one of them!!!

WHAT???  SCISSORS?

EEEKKKK!!!

They will be fun to work with!!!!

Deadline Met and Mission Accomplished

I was SOOOO excited AND exhausted but I finished sewing on the binding at 6:00 pm Friday evening!!  Yes, a completed quilt in 5 days.

( You need to read my previous post to know what this post is talking about )

Hubby came home a few minutes after I finished it.  I was glad I had moved my sewing 

room back upstairs where all my gift wrap, bows and such are up

here too.  I quickly found some ribbon and tied it around the

folded and rolled up quilt.

Hubby was really surprised when I gifted it to him.  He was REALLY

impressed I had actually machine quilted it.  Especially

in a design other than just straight lines.  ( I was patting myself on the back for this one too! )

Here it is…. I know it's just squares, but I wanted it simple so I could make it quick and fast

as fast could be.  

I chose some older fabrics

that have been lurking around for a while 'cause I'm sure tired of looking at them

every time I thumb through my stash!!

I knew Hubby and the Goober dog would like it regardless!

( The Goober dog lays in the chair every night with Hubby so it's his quilt too! )

This gingham on the back has been in my stash l-o-n-g before I knew to call it my stash.

I added this tan fruit/veggie in 'cause it has corn and various other

fruits and veggies Hubby has in his garden.

I like it……especially now that it's finished.  There are sunflowers and a block FULL of red tomatoes.

An African print toward the top, various type prints and a few flowers

thrown in so he can stay in touch with his FEMININE side! (snicker)

Maybe I should challenge myself with deadlines on future quilts and inspire myself to 

get more accomplished………….naaahhhhhh!

I'm headed outside now,

it's 84 degrees!!!!

Quilt with a Deadline

Do you ever get ideas and at the time you think they seem wonderful, brilliant and

very much attainable???  Of course these ideas NEVER come early

with plenty of time to achieve them!

Not in my case anyway and then

THE PRESSURE IS ON!

This past Sunday night I was looking at the quilt Hubby covers up with at night in his easy chair and thought to myself…."I am REALLY tired of looking at that quilt, he needs a new one."

Yes, the perfect Valentines gift.

I got up Monday morning inspired and decided on big scrappy blocks, nothing

fancy…..keep it simple.  Deciding on fabrics and cutting ran smooth.

Sewing up blocks ran even smoother.

THEN

I began to think "could I really make a whole quilt, quilted, bound and all in just

5 days?"  The problem is I want it to be a complete

surprise and so keeping it a 

SECRET

began to cause me TONS of grief and as well as SLOW me down.

Hubby has been in and out and in my hair more times this week than he has in the last month!!!!

Lucky enough my sewing room is upstairs so when I hear him

come in I can go downstairs to keep him out of my sewing room and ruining

his surprise.

Right now I have about an 18 inch area and the quilting will be complete.  

My arms, neck and hands are pretty sore.  I hadn't counted on that.  I am doing just

an all over meander.  I have never machine quilted any thing 

besides straight lines before and I was pretty stressed out for a while

BUT 

now I have the hang of it and I have worked the soreness out!

I got the binding done during breaks from the machine quilting.

Ouuuu, my black binding looks like a

creepy spider or critter! ha!

SURELY I can get the binding all sewn down by tomorrow night?

( I'm kind of slow, I think my stitches are too tiny )

YES

I am giving myself until tomorrow night, I am going to need all

day tomorrow and I REALLY want to give it to him

completely finished!

Ok, I better get back to it, I sure don't want to burn too much midnight oil…..

Wish me luck and send good vibes my way that tomorrow

my little quilty fingers can FLY through

the binding!!!!

I Was Scared!!!

Hello again everybody!  The New Year started out with a bang of creativity for me.

I was moving and shaking.

I dug in the closet for tops that needed to be quilted.

I made a back for one ( previous post) and pin basted it together.

I had prepared tons of little tiny leaves and pieces for my Quilt Show BOM hand

applique' project.

Then BOOM!  The SICKNESS….the CRUD…..the PLAGUE hit!!!

I MISSED THE WHOLE LAST HALF OF JANUARY!!!

I was SOOOOO MAD!!

All my creative efforts came to a screeching halt!!!

WAH!

But all is well that ends well.  I am much better now (lingering cough).  I must

be better if I am thinking of re-arranging the furniture again! HA!!

 I decided to put all the parts of my BOM up on the design wall.  I had not seen the parts all together.  As I finished each piece I just put them in the drawer with all the other parts.

oooouuuuu……aaahhhhhh

I.LIKE.

Then I decided to try my hand at soaking out the glue on one of the 4 main appliqué' blocks.

I filled a little tub

AND

THEN

I WAS SCARED!!!!

Yep, I was too scared to put it in the water.

My stomach hurt, I paced the floor holding the cute little block in my hands.

I'M SCARED!!!

I had never done this before!

BUT armed with the advice I researched online I became BRAVE!

I took a deep breath and threw it into the water fast as fast could be

before I changed my mind.

 Hey, whatever was wrong with me?  See, it looks so happy floating around in

it's little bath and there weren't any pieces or parts that

floated to the top!

Sigh….what a relief!!!!

OK…..now I'm feeling brave and strong and ready to charge on!

 I soaked the glue out of these too!!!  They are the cornerstones for the above top.

WOW, it was hard for me going into unknown uncharted waters, but I think it worked out ok!

I'M NOT SCARED ANYMORE……..

UNTIL I think about machine quilting that top I have all basted and ready to go.

my stomach hurts again