new project

Do you ever buy fabric that you think is neat and then don't do anything with it .... forever. Well I bought several fat quarters at a neat shop in Lake Oswego Oregon, a couple Octobers ago. My husband and I were coming home from a conference and decided to take a little detour. So instead of coming straight down I-5 , he decided to check our a quilt shop for me. What a neat little shop too. Right in the middle of old town Oswego. I found a new line of Coffee colors neat. They were brown and torquise and a flower print with similar colors. I had intended to do something for my daughter, the big coffee drinker but never got around to it.

I decided I needed one more project before I finished the 3 sitting around. I like to sandwich a couple together and then machine quilt them all so I have my Moose head, my Sudko top and my Little Red Hen top ready to be finished.

I bought a pattern a while back that is to hold your rulers....something I much needed. I have the pockets all sewn onto the individual sections and now need to add the dividing strips and outside borders then can add get them all ready to quilt.

I'll have to try and take picture of what I have so far. Love the colors.

Monday Apirl 19th

Can you believe it ... tomorrow is Ethan's 17th birthday.

My Little Red Hen quilt

Finally Finished the top. The two color border was Ben's idea. The computer doesn't do the color justice. It's really bright yellow and red. I drew up the design on EQ6. It's really lots of fun. The hard part is not having the colors or fabric designs that are really current so at times it's hard to come up with the right look.

How about a more up close look at the block. the Hens around the outside have a white background and those in the center have a pale yellow.

I have the batting for it but not sure what to put on the back yet. I also have my moose, the barn yard gang and the sudoku top to sandwich together. I figure I need one more project to work on then sandwich them all and the quilt them all. I like finishing them up that way, especially if they are not meant to go to someone. Then I'd finish them right away.

Can you believe it's the middle of April already...

Happy Quilting

Weekend trip

Well, Ben finally took a Saturday off so he could run in the Pear Blossom Run in Medford. This is the 34th year and his first. We headed down on Friday night (a 2 1/2 hr drive), we even had to wear our sunglasses it was that bright once we were away from Eugene. He ran 5th out of 62 in his age group and 98 out of 1580. Pretty good.

We left Medford about 11 so the clouds were still across the hills. I thought they looked pretty neat so I took a couple pictures. Of course they looked a lot neater when I first thought about taking the pictures.

It was a nice quiet weekend. I was a little disappointed because the quilt shop we have gone to since Ethan was little and maybe before closed. they had moved a few years ago from a sort of cramped shop where they had to share the parking lot with a strip mall to a place all their own with plenty of parking. Could be the new overhead got to be to much but I really loved the shop and the ladies were always really nice. Then Ben was going to stop at an old CD/Record shop but the were closed for the Pear Blossom Festival that was going on all weekend. It was still a nice relaxing weekend.

my quilting companions

I think Tootsie is jealous of Chase. If I'm sitting on the love seat, one of them has to be beside me...it's usually Chase. If Tootsie comes in she will walk all around trying to find an empty space where she can get up.. Of course there isn't one. Her solution is to lay on the floor as close to me as possible. Most of the time I'm sitting where she is laying and she will lay between my legs, usually propped up on the footstool and the cabinet. they both want to be close to me most of the time.


As you can see the big girls take up the whole love seat. the whole point in getting it moved to my quilt room was so that if I was done sewing for the night I could sit and relax, but how do you kick one off....

Ben usually comes up to get Chase a little before 10 to go outside before bed. Tootsie is so quick to go out and back in so she can get up beside me. It is really rather comical. Really I should say both do the same. Chase likes to lay in the door way. I think it's so she can hear what is going on downstairs. They just want to be near me...sometimes that's good sometimes it's not.

My newest project

I decided to try and make a smaller lap type quilt that will cover my lap to my feet. The lap quilts I have are rather large and I wanted something that I can use in the summer. It get cool in the evenings so instead of closing up all the windows, I love fresh air, I can just throw my little quilt on.

With the new arrangement in my quilt room I ran across the Little Red Hen fabric I bought some time ago. As you can see it's on the bright side. So March 27th I used my EQ6 program to design a simple quilt. Of course once it's designed then you have to figure out exactly the right size...always a challenge.

By the next Satruday I had all the 4 patch blocks made and everything else cut. It's basicly a 4patch block with extra squares. So over the rest of the day and through Sunday I sewed it all together. All this plus washing my laundry.

We fixed rib eye steaks that had been marinating all day along with the best au gratin potatoes. Cassie found the recipe in the Pioneer Womens cookbook. We have tried close to a half dozen or so recipes and don't think we've had one that we didn't like.

by Sunday afternoon I had sewen all the blocks into rows. By bedtime I had all the rows into a top. Now I think I'm going to sew a 1 inch border of the checks to sort of break up the design. Still trying to decide whether to put the red hens with the white or yellow backgroun as the outside border. Once I get the checks on I'll lay the two pieces out and have Ben look at it. He has a much better eye for the finishing touches. He's helped me finish up so many quilts. Cassie too. I see what I like and they see what is best. We make a good team.