SewCal I can Do it! Christmas Quilt Show

LOL!  When SewCal did her pets on quilts I was so fussy over my photos that I couldn't just settle and enter already.  Well she's doing it again.  This time is a Christmas Quilt Show and that I can do.  Sheesh how many Christmas Quilts have I made!?!?  Wish I'd been keeping track after almost 3 years of quilting I can't even tell you how many I've made.  Opps!  I'm bird walking aren't I?

I highly recommend you visit her blog and check this contest out because the sponsors she rounded up!  WOW!

Row Robin Front

Now on to my entry!  This is the Christmas Row Robin Quilt.  I hosted Jan. 2009-July 2009.  The theory was that would allow more than enough time to get it quilted in time for Christmas.  Well I the hostess missed it and my quilt wasn't ready for Christmas 2009.  That fact must have put a bee in my rear because I did finish it for this Christmas.

Quilting Detail

This is freemotion quilted with Hearts and Loops in blue thread.  I should have gone with white or at least a thinner thread but I didn't so look out 40wt blue because it showed all of my flaws, but I think that's okay.  I loved putting it away with the other Christmas things this past summer and am looking forward to putting it back on my wall shortly.

Back Before Quilting

I never took a picture of the back once it was quilted so here it is not quilted.  It is a reversible quilt and the missing picture surely must mean I was embarrassed by the quilting. Silly me.  Oh yes and that line of teal in the bottom row I fixed that before I basted it together and matched the seam because I knew I couldn't live with the strange miss-alignment there.

Reguardless of what my memories tell me about the quilting I am really looking forward to getting this quilt out along with all of my other Christmas items.  I decorate nearly every room in my home so I have at least two or three things that go in each room, I can hardly wait to see what this quilt looks like all decked out in the living room.

As a Lover of Christmas I joined in Sue's Christmas Quilt-a-long this year as well; I think I only missed one month and that was due to the crazy kind of headache that messes with your equilibrium.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the Show.

Christmas Row Robin WRAPPED UP!

Today I finished the Christmas 2009 Row Robin.  This project was one stumbling block after another, but I made it.  Not only did I finish the heart and loop quilting today I also made and attached the binding.  This quilt turned out really cute.  I added a small tab every 6" so each year I'll be able to hang it up during the holiday season.  I have very little doubt that this will be one of the projects that I think of with dread until I pull it from storage and hang it up and remember how pretty it is.

Christmas Row Robin Finished

It truly is a joy to have this quilt finished, I have placed it in the laundry basket so that it can be washed on my next laundry day and then someone will have to find space in with the other Christmas stuff.

Detail of Heart and Loop Quilting

This is my second quilt with freemotion quilting.  As I had all sorts of trouble with my Brother machine being in and out of service, I've decided that my little Elna deserves a reward for all it's hard work in the form of it's very own quilting foot. 

Strings Attached

Row Robin during Quilting (strings attached)

For the past week I've been working on quilting the row robin.  It seems like each time I try to work on this quilt something else happens to make me upset over it.  First it was to long for the wall that it is supposed to hang on which I didn't discover until after I'd made the back to match.  So I removed one of the rows and made a Christmas valance with it.  Now that I'm quilting I have found two holes in my row.  Yes holes!  It looks like someone put a pin in it and then tried to open the quilt up after sewing without removing the pins and tore to matching holes in it.

Holes

As posting about such things has always helped me find the answer here I am, posting.  The holes are on the block photographed above center bottom of the dark blue fabric and the teal to the left of the seam where I have marked the red circles?

I'm planning on doing echoes around the applique and embroidered blocks and as I'm not certain about the scrappy blocks I haven't quilted them either.

Sunset

This evening I couldn't help but notice the night sky.  Before I went outside the entire sky was covered in clouds like these.  As my feet touched the ground outside I saw first one and then two - a double rainbow - of course by the time I had the camera in my hand all that was left to take photos of were the clouds.  Next time I'll be more prepared. 

I worked on the quilting Christmas Row Robin Quilt today and I should have all the stitch in the ditch that I want to do done either tomorrow or Monday.  After that my other machine will be home from the repair shop (it's third trip in two weeks) so hopefully I'll be able to wrap up the job with a bit of echo freemotion quilting.  Only time will tell of course.

DD had a great birthday and this was by far my favorite photo.  Those little hands are growing up so quickly soon all the of the babyhood left in them will be gone forever. 

Of course some of you might like this jumping for joy photo better, and be certain to check out my great new windows behind her!

The back for the Holiday Row Robin quilt is all finished up. I thought I was shorter on fabric than I really was so I'm going to redo the blue border fabrics at the top and the bottom to better match, as I'm 100% sure I can't stand to watch that teal "jump" every year during the holidays.

I haven't bought clothes in a long time, just a new top here or there. Since my accident in 2001 it's difficult for me to try things on, as you constantly have to sit, stand, and wiggle around. I dug out my cloth tape i.e. the sewing tape measure that bends and measured, letting measurements do the talking. Then I went to the website where I wanted to order my clothes, and ordered the size that the inches told me to. Now I hate those numbers. They seem so awful, not to mention women's sizes have three different departments. Who dreamed that one up? Shoot I'd rather be like the men's department and only have one place in the store I need to check for my size, but that could just be my disability complaining.

So anyway, with a deep breath I went clothes shopping online. I was so excited by have a few new things the silly size number didn't matter anyway. The days go by and I wait and wait, insult is added to my waiting because of the 4th, but no matter, I can't wait.

The clothes arrived yesterday. Yes siree, they did. All of them are way to big. Huge is perhaps an understatement for most of them. One pair of pants comes close, but DH would have to add a "hole" to the belt so I can cinch it down enough, to keep the pants where they belong. I was a mess over it. What a disaster. I feel so bad for anyone else that might have thought they could trust their tape measure.

So Rob arrives home shortly after I tried on everything in the box. After a few minutes he tells me, "at least you know those clothes are all to big". Right. Is that truly supposed to help me? Awwgee, sure I'm glad their not to tiny, but I was so looking forward to having them fit.

The Special little Lady Cardinal is here this morning. I bet she's glad she doesn't have to stand and try on clothes.

More on the Back

Yesterday I spent a wonderful day with my husband. We didn't do anything, but it was wonderful all the same. He's been working his regular job and is doing some intensive contract work, so I haven't been seeing much of him lately. After he departed to work in the pm, I got out my quilt supplies and work more on the Row Robin Quilt back. As you can see in the photo it's coming right along. Two more borders, one in muslin to make it the rectangle I need and one in a flannel border fabric to frame it all in and bring it up to size.

Today is a big day for me. Just this morning I packed up the last of the seed from the capsules my Phaius Tankervilliae Orchid produced (with my help) and this after noon I'll be shipping it off to the Conservatory. I be sharing the germination status of that with you as I know, but if you'd like to keep track you can watch here. While this process didn't go as planned (can we say tornado) I have enjoyed working with Meyer's Conservatory and look forward to helping again in the future.

Row Robin wRap Up

My row has been returned to me, in the form of a completed top. It's quite interesting for me to see what "Christmas Hope" means to all the ladies in my group. When I made this row DH had been unemployed for six months, it was taking everything I had to hold everything together to hope for the future. Things changed shortly after the creation of the first row and I very nearly remade it, but in the end I decided the row represented who I was at that moment in time and therefore was well worth being my row for the Row Robin. This is a quilt I will enjoy seeing every holiday. I've started working on the back for this one, it's destined to be a huge star, as you can see I currently only have the center. Don't judge it harshly as I've been using the little Elna to keep the pressure off the one needing to be repaired. All of the center fabrics are from what I used in the original row. As for the rest of the back, it's scrap busting time. Every fabric I'll use is from my stash, I have already planned out the entire quilt and double checked that I have enough of the five other fabrics I'll be using. The first border around is a delight of Noah's ark complete with a sleeping kitty and a dog. As always you can click on the pictures to see them bigger.

Last Row

As you know I wrapped up the last row for the row robin. In this case the last two rows are mine, bringing the quilt to a 84"X84" instead of 84"X72". Amber has received it and plans on adding a border to bring it up to king size for her bed. I'm certain whatever she does will be beautiful. Each loop of "ribbon" is made from flannel and is being held by a pair of doves. Inside the loops are uplifting passages such as "Good will towards men". This was the last embroidery my machine did before deciding to be broken, so I was glad to learn she liked the top. There was plenty of room left in the flat rate box I stuck in a bit of cheer for the "quilter" in her as well as a couple of things to make her feel special. My personal favorite of what I included is a bath bomb from Basin and White. Since I refuse to order them online, the only place I can get them is the Grand Floridian at Walt Disney World. I feel it helps to keep them "special". And of course if she doesn't like it she can always re-gift. If you would like to see any of these photos closer up, just click on them.

The Tucker went out of my Ticker Day Parade

I wasn't going to post tonight, as I didn't really feel in the mood, but it was so pleasant to drop in on stitchinpenny tonight that I felt perhaps a wrap up on the day might be just the ticket.

Today I finished up the two rows for Amber's quilt. I haven't decided if I will post photos ahead or wait until Amber tells me it's safe in her hands and she likes it. I know I'm such a sucker for a surprise. It's the last of my commitment to the large group and it does fill me with a bit of peace to have it done. The finished size is supposed to be 84"X84" I haven't measured it, but it's big, and heavy and did I mention hot?

With no air conditioning here in Central FL we've been cooking, I have no doubt it was over 95 in my house today (but I didn't dare check that thermostat for fear the sight of it would make me melt!) I can not wait until we replace the air conditioner. I tell you what there is a reason why some people only quilt in the winter time.

I am not so well, I pushed myself to hard today and my foot is furious. My heart is most especially heavy when I am alone. The sun has mostly set and the noises of the night can be heard through the open window, but I haven't turned on the light. It's hard to turn and know that Kitty isn't there, that I wont hear her voice again hollering for dinner. I have never buried a pet that I have loved so long before. I keep seeing her over and over in my mind as she was after she past and I have to remind myself that wasn't my gal.

I once heard somewhere that our pets look like us, and when I had Kitty in to the vets office before Christmas last year I was sitting on the bench looking at everyone and thinking how true that was. The woman with perfectly shaped brown hair with a dog just the same, a huge burly man with a Husky larger than I'd ever seen before. Our three furred friends include the proud regal looking Sunny with a tender heart. Our long and lean 8 pound Tiny, beautiful finely boned. Then we had kitty 18 pounds at last check. She's the one that looked like me and now that she's gone I can't help but realize how very much the same she and I were. It's as though there is a hollow spot not even tears can fill up.

Love your family and hold them close, be they furred, feathered, or skinned because none of us know what the future holds.

A Stitch or Two

No plans yet for my row, but I did stitch together two blocks one on either side of the "Peace" for the last row. Those blocks are the first block and the last block in the second row. I put them in so the yellow "V's" into the word Peace. The colors I had used in the remake were brighter so the yellow really pops.

Jessica was so upset last night when she couldn't help me make dinner (daddy made it hurray! Now that's some good eats!) that I let her pick what we'd eat tonight. I'm thinking perhaps we'll also make cookies today. Sure would be nice hu? Here's hoping.

We are completely covered up with eggs. I currently have 14! My mom has two Araucana's (the ones that lay the blue green eggs) that are laying a steady dozen per week now that winter has past. Ah the joys of farm fresh eggs. I tried to take a photo for you, but in this morning light (which I thought would be perfect) it just washes them out.

I bagged up some wine ripened tomatoes to share with mom yesterday but when she left them on the table, we served them up with dinner.

Now if you'll excuse me I've missed checking in with my blogging friends, so until next time!

As it Stands

This is Amber's quilt. It arrived a few days ago but this was the first time I had a chance to sit down and post about it. Nicely Mary Jane send an extra tiny bit of blue flora fabric that had been used in a pre-existing row. Which will be nice to have to pull everything together.

Since Amber's row is running 12" short I'll be adding two rows. The first will be of my choice and the second will be from the blocks I had made when we thought her top had gone missing in the mail. I think it will be wonderful.

Oddly when I laid the quilt out it told me butterflies, which seems bazaar on a Christmas Robin so I'll be ignoring that comment and instead thing about what might be a similar shape, perhaps a white poinsettia? It's all just wondering now. I have some fabrics that will match well from the Easter effort so I plan to be getting started on this one straight away. Of course this is our last month so when it's all done I'll be sending it off to Amber for final touches and to be quilted up. hehehe wont that be a fun package to receive in the mail?

Row Robin May Addition

Here is the addition to Lori's Row Robin. This top is certainly my favorite that has come through here. I sincerely hope she likes it as much as I do.

I did wonder for a little while how in the world to take the photo, as this one has grown quite large, it's 72"X84" with one row to go, but just as I did with the King Quilt last Christmas the couch turned out to be the best help.

I will be writing about the pros and cons of hosting a Swap like this when it's all over so look for that sometime in July.

Half way

I just realized I am halfway to having all the blocks I'll need for the Row Robin this month. Somehow I had it in my head that I needed 7 blocks, but that's not until next month. Here is my most recent addition. It's called Prickly Pear and is a 14" block. Of course if you're looking for this pattern look no further than Quilter's Cache.

I had a couple of photos printed from when we were at Disney in September, and added them to Jessica's autograph book. If I'd been thinking I would have made sure to print a photo so every autograph would have one, but I was printing them out for something else. After all this time of having only baby Jessica with the characters she's so excited for the changes. She keeps looking at it over and over again. The blissful joys of being 3.

I have two confirmed RSVP's for Mum's the Word and one "I'll be there", with those three it will be a party even if no one shows up. One guest even complimented me on the invitations.

The Nitty Gritty

Yesterday was sweltering. It was so nasty sticky hot. That being said, allow me to continue. That means it's not a good day to try and glitter something. But I'm one of those people that when I put my mind to doing something... Not to mention it's Florida and when it it ever going to "not be hot"? I think I would like to add a second layer of the white to make the snow on the rooftops pop a bit more. This stuff is amazingly flexible. You look at it and think wow that must be crusted on, right? Nope I keep poking it because it blows my mind too. When I'm certain I'm done there is a heat set process in the oven and I will type up my final review then.

That glittered Winter Wonderland land theme is for Lori's quilt top, which I have for the Row Robin this month. I also made the scarf you see below. When I looked all that beautiful quilt I thought, everything is here, the snow cap, the mittens, the ice skates, but no scarf. I googled Applique Quilt Block Scarf and all other combinations, but didn't find what I was looking for, so I did a sketch which turned out fine, so I free form-drew right onto the fabric. Two layers of flannel later... The dark purple creases are hand stitched - when I couldn't make the sewing machine behave I just did what Serena would do. The tassels are a technique called couching, which Shelly told me she thought I'd like doing the last time I did detail work. Couching is where you take a thick (thicker than your thread) thread, embroidery floss, yarn, or cording, and you zigzag stitch with the machine right over the cord. In my case I used embroidery floss at full hank thickness. Honestly I think it looks nearly as cool on the underside of the piece as the top and will be keeping it in mind for future projects. I have sent out all but one of the invitations for the Mum's the Word Party and the end of the month. I'm holding back on the last one just so my co-hostess can see what they looked like before I mailed them all away.

It should be a great time, we're planning on having Tacos and Sangria's complete with Corn Chips and a variation on my friend Heather's Cheese Dip Sauce. Mom and I can't eat peppers (I know how awful is that?!?!) so I do things a little differently. For those of you who started reading in the middle of this party planning we're also going to be painting Ceramics, the proprietor is wonderful to work with, and I'll be giving her a huge shout out after the party.

Today is the day a huge 24" X 24" X 24", yes 8 cubic feet of baby stuff is supposed to arrive to Mary, a friend I had send two boxes of Jessica's baby things prior. I didn't mail it sooner because there has been so much sadness around my house over the past couple of months I didn't feel up to hauling what turned out to be 55 pounds of baby things off to mail. I told her it was on the way a couple of days ago and so far haven't heard anything, I hope no news is fine news.

Sometimes computer loves to share photos with you, and sometimes it's selfish, after all it had friends who knew dinosaurs, and how many pc's can say that? The past couple of days that was the rut mine was in. So I hope you enjoyed all the photos today. I'll leave you with a photo of second side of the purple quilt (yes I'm quilting them together in one quilt). The lighting did stupid things, and the fabric calculator lied so I ended up changing things which lost the ribbon look a bit, okay completely. As always anything you'd like to see closer up go ahead and click on it to see the nitty gritty details.
Jessica woke up shortly before I was finished with the wonderland village, so she did a bit of glittering on her own.

Row Robin for May

Lori's Row is here for the row Robin. When I first saw her row I really wanted to make a snow covered town and glitter paint it. Of course I've never done glitter on fabric, so the cost is a bit more than I'd like, so we'll see over the next couple of days if I can come up with something different to do.

I was outside with DH and Jessica long enough today that I picked up a tiny sunburn on my shoulders. Lucky for me if anyone burns in this house it's me. This is my passion vine plant. Mine is not "self fertile" and therefore it wont set passion fruit. The pretty purple flowers only last a day, but based on the number of buds I should have flowers everyday until late summer.

April's Row for the Row Robin

IS DONE! Hooray! I'm glad to be sending this one off to Amber. All I have left to do is sign the label and pack it up. OH! The theme is General Christmas and it's Margie's quilt top.
I started to take a photo of the "in works pile" but Jessica really wanted the photo of her taken instead. To be honest I'm a bit embarrassed by the "in works pile". I've never had this many projects going at once. Yuck. It's not fun. I've already told myself it needs to be cleared out and done by New Year's, which worked out great for last year... Something tells me I'll be making a push on those soon.

Trees and Fabric

Here are the three blocks I had already completed for the second row in the replacement top. The mailman finally showed up with the top, so I can stop working on it now. Seems it was a zip code error. You've really got to double check those suckers.

I'm thinking I might like these three blocks paired with the carpenters wheel. I think the blue and green will really set of the purple already on the quilt. Sometime soon I'll be playing with blocks again. Hopefully all will be fun there. DH worked a good part of yesterday afternoon to get the windows fixed, the holes in the roof are patched, and the tree no longer laying on the house. There is still a huge amount of work to be done, but feels like home again. There are more big branches around the other side as well. DH and I talked last night about renting a chipper to clean up the rest of this stuff. After all I did need to buy mulch this spring.

I've begun wondering when I woke up this morning... Since DH needs a new mower anyway maybe it would be better to just buy a mower combo thing. Then we'd have it for when we needed it. I don't know I'll have to call around for rental quotes. BLECK!

First row done.

I just wrapped up the first row for the Row Robin replacement. Okay so I did it earlier and this is the first break I took. I also have three blocks of the following row down as well leaving me with only 4 left to do. Don't get excited one of those is a 12" Carpenter's Wheel. Do you know what I think of that one? EEGGGGADS! I'll tell you something about that Lori. I sew, but she is a master. I'm more like the kid in the sand box. "But..." You say! I can hear you thinking it. Didn't I make a Carpenter's Wheel already? Oh yes, I did. It's one of the works in progress. But it started as a 24" not a 12", yes I added an extra go round and brought it up to 36" but those are nice big pieces. All those pieces only SMALLER. There is time enough tomorrow.

It's a Parent Thing

Today I worked on the replacement row. It's turning out quite pretty if I do say so myself. I really like the fabrics I picked, they feel nice as I work with them. Of course it's always nice that the colors look good too. That of course had very little to do with me, mostly to do with Amber who picked the colors to begin with. I have five of the first 7 blocks one. The goal is to spell PEACE. I started with the P, and then moved on to the E. Anyone who has quilted before knows there it's easier to make two blocks that are the same at the same time, so I made both the first "E" and the last one as well. The hearts were the last two I did and while a different heart block than I am used to, it still sewed together easily. Little did I realize my day's worth of sewing had spelled out, yep you read it here ladies and gentlemen.

It has got to be a parent thing! We really want PEACE! But all we get is PEE!

From my home to yours I wish you a very peaceful Easter Holiday. May your chocolate be milky, your babies be happy, and most of all your heart filled with love.

Row Robin Fix

I have washed all of the fabrics I purchased to remake the rows. $20 worth! Since it was the first time I'd been to the fabric store since before Christmas it must be okay. I don't recommend going that long. It's torture! It's inhumane treatment of a quilter! I bought six different fabrics for a total of 5 1/2 yards added to my stash. Right now my darling daughter is curled up on my lap watching a butterfly emerge from it's chrysalis. It's enchanting to me because we saved a chrysalis about this time last year. The stem it had attached itself had broken off. We put the entire thing in the bug box with the best of intentions of watching it emerge and letting it go. We never expected it would emerge that evening! Of course we released it when we discovered it was ready. In case you were wondering this is a Gulf Fritillary Butterfly emerging from it's chrysalis.