suemacseeds

January Swap Block

2012-01-29T12:43:00.000-08:00

I tried a new design for my January block for my Block Swap Adventure. I found a tutorial on Freshly Pieced for a ribbon star block. It took me awhile but I got it done. You really had to watch how you sewed your pieces together. I hope my swap partner likes it. She requested an orange block.

Log Cabin Blocks

2012-01-28T11:29:00.000-08:00

I spent last weekend working on my log cabin quilt. I had previously had seven blocks done and then got caught up in Christmas gifts. Now that I am free again I started up with the log cabin blocks. I had eight more cut before last weekend so I assembled them and ended up with fifteen blocks that were complete. I decided I wanted a twin size so I was going to need a total of 48 blocks. Then the fun began. I cut and I cut and I cut. Now I have nice piles of every size separated by light and dark. Now I get to assemble and sew this weekend. I had to go to my LQS and then to JoAnn's to get additional fabric. Good thing I had a coupon for 20% off my total purchase and then the fabric was 40% off. I even got the backing fabric for my husband's quilt. A bargain of $12.00 for 4 yards of fabric.

Wish me luck.

String Quilt Revival

2012-01-15T21:53:00.000-08:00

I treated myself to a new book today with my Barnes and Noble gift card. It is "String Quilt Revival" by Virginia Baker and Barbara Sanders. It comes with a DVD featuring Nancy Zimmerman. It has some really neat string quilt ideas. They also don't use paper for their foundation. They use no show mesh stabilizer. You keep it on the quilt rather than tearing it off. Great idea.

I, however, am using sketch pad paper for mine. I picked a charm square pack I am not going to use otherwise for the charm squares in the middle of my string block. I got two pieced tonight. Just trying it out. I was going to do all light floral but I am using those fabrics for my Farmer's Wife quilt so I just stuck with neutrals and darks which I have plenty of.

Took a picture of my two squares, the book and my sketch paper pad. I will probably do this over time.

Goodie Bag and New Fabric

2012-01-14T07:45:00.000-08:00

I belong to the Austin Modern Quilt Guild. We changed our meeting place to the warehouse of an on-line fabric seller. She has a wonderful website and her warehouse is spotless and just brimming with modern fabric. She also gave away a goodie bag. Three fat quarters and other goodies. What a treat. I am looking forward to buying fabric from her. I know it is coming from a nice, clean warehouse and the fabric is treated with care. She is a real fabric lover and made a switch from the corporate world to follow her fabric passion. Her website is formandfabric.com

I also ordered not one but two sets of fat quarters for my favorite Moda fabric "Martinique". I never had any yardage just charm packs. I am so excited. I am not sure what my project will be but it will be beautiful.

2012-01-01T11:51:00.000-08:00

I was just browsing on PinInterest and came across this amazing quilt. One of our fellow bloggers took this picture at a quilt show in California in 2006. I thought I would share because this is just such an amazing use of pinwheels.

The information on the quilt is as follows:

It is 488 Smashing Pinwheels by Gail Sims & Cheryl Uribe of Livermore, CA, USA

This is a link to the photo http://www.lemontreetales.com/lemon_tree_tales/2006/10/index.html.

How are you spending your New Year's Day?
Okay. How about another old-fashioned quilt from broderie.typepad.com.

The Brightest Quilt Yet

2011-12-30T20:44:00.000-08:00

I had pieced a top several months ago from the Girly Girly line by Pat Bravo. It is really bright. I just finished up the quilting. That fabric was wonderful to work with. It was soft and draped well. I used warm and natural batting. The quilt came out very light weight. Perfect for Texas weather.

The back is a little more restful on the eyes

I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. I still have three more quilts to get done. I see light at the end of the tunnel though.

More Christmas Quilts

2011-12-27T19:42:00.000-08:00

My husband finally emailed the pictures he took of more of my Christmas quilts.

I made a table topper/wall quilt for my sister using a Glace charm pack and some extra fabric.

Next is my Dad's Quilt. My husband picked out the fabric. It is Jo Morton/Andover Fabrics.

Jo Morton/Andover Fabrics

I also finished up my son's fiancee's quilt. She likes blue. I had some beautiful batik fabric I picked up at the Chishom Trail Quilt Show.

Beautiful Batiks

Pieced Back

The last one was for my oldest son. There is a story behind this quilt. He had a quilt that was polyester camo fabric that his great aunt made for him. He had that quilt into his 20's until it fell apart. I made him a quilt with fabrics that have a camo look for the front and flannel camo for the back. It is really a cuddle quilt.

Yes that is really flannel camo

Finally my husband took a bigger picture of the churn dash quilt I sent to our daughter and son-in-law.

As you can see I was really busy get things finished up between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have four more tops done that need to be quilted for both family and friends. All of the children and grandchildren now have their quilts though. Yeah!!!!!

A few more December projects

2011-12-21T21:06:00.000-08:00

I made a quick Christmas table runner for my gift swap at work. I used a pattern I found on PinInterest. It was originally made out of canvas. I used fabric and batting instead.

I also finished up a churn dash quilt for my daughter and son-in-law. That was the late Monday night sewing spree.

I did not get the whole quilt in the picture as I took this at 11:30 at night because I was mailing it early the next day.

I have more quilts that my husband took pictures of and has not emailed them to me yet. I will post as soon as I get him motivated.

Daugher and Grandson Quilts

2011-12-11T21:12:00.000-08:00

These are two of the quilts I made this weekend. One for my daughter and one for my grandson. My daughter is not a bright color, modern fabric kind of girl so I made a neutral quilt for her. The fabric for my grandson's quilt is zippety doo dah.

I did not get them photographed in the daylight so my husband made the best of it when he photographed them tonight. I wanted to get them in the mail for their birthdays, the 17th and 18th respectively. I have to be out of town all week on business so my husband has been tasked with mailing duty tomorrow.

I have one more almost done. I ran short of thread with 8" to go on the binding. Oh well.

Busy, Busy

2011-11-27T20:29:00.000-08:00

I got my son's Asian inspired quilt sent off last week. I used Daiwabo taupe fabric in cotton and woven cotton on the front. On the back my son had picked out two fabrics he liked when he was here last December and I pieced them together like he wanted. Some math involved. It turned out really great. I love that fabric. My husband and I took a field trip and he photographed the quilt at our favorite spot in Austin.

I have been busy over the holiday finishing more quilts. My dad's is all done except hand sewing the binding to the back. I have my daughter's pin basted and I have the back of my grandson's quilt all pieced. Whew. I also got my November block done for my block swap. I have one more day off to get more done this week before I go back to work. I have lots to get done before Christmas.

Wildfire Quilt

2011-11-12T06:18:00.000-08:00

I finally got done with my Wildfire Charity Quilt for kids whose homes burned in this summer's Bastrop wildfires. I had to do a little math to get the pieced back done. It was not too bad. I had some low loft poly backing which I used for this quilt. My machine really did not like it very much. I had a little trouble with my bobbin thread. Note to self: Don't ever use this again even if it is on sale.

My block swap adventure blocks

2011-10-27T05:15:00.000-07:00

I got my October block from my block swap adventure swapper and I have a sneak peak at the block I made her. She wanted a specific block from Lily's Quilts called Lynne Bob Square Pants. It had a lot of hst's. Luckily they were the size I had on my Accuquilt Die. That did speed things up a little.

I had my own adventure. I had a nuclear stress test a few weeks ago that my doctor had some questions on. I went in Monday for my follow-up and she suggested a cardiac catheterization. I went in on Tuesday and they found a blockage in my right coronary artery. Now I am the lucky owner of two stents. I only had to stay one night in the hospital and I am going back to work half day today. The miracles of modern medicine. I am a little gimpy from them going through my femoral artery up to my heart but otherwise feel great.

Block Swap Quilt Block

2011-10-15T08:22:00.000-07:00

I sent off my first block last month and forgot to post a picture of it. She wanted red, white and blue. I did a star in a star pattern I got from my daily blocks I get from Quilt Pro. Those blocks finally came in handy. It is so easy to import the block pattern, pull it up and print out templates. Yeah Quilt Pro. Well you are going to have to imagine this in red white and blue since I forgot to take a picture of it. This is my practice block with my purple themed fabrics. These are 12" blocks.

Quilting Fun

2011-10-15T07:59:00.000-07:00

I have been fairly productive, I just haven't posted recently. I went to a local quilt show recently and saw some beautiful quilts and bought some beautiful batik fabric. I am making a batik quilt using my "Fat Quarter Shuffle" easy peasy pattern. I used the same pattern for the charity quilt below that I pieced several months ago. I ran out last week to get border fabric and luckily found a match to one of the fabrics in the quilt. I need to get that quilted up by the end of the month for the "Wildfire" quilt drive in our area.

I also finished up a table topper that I had pieced a while ago. I used a charm pack of Terry Thompson Clothier fabric. Can't remember the name right now. This was for our silent auction for our charity drive at work. We put together a kitchen basket with some homemade and some store bought items. My contribution was the table topper and two machine embroidered kitchen towels. I had a busy weekend last week getting those items done. I also pin basted my son's Asian themed quilt with a pieced backing. I will get a picture of that tomorrow when I get it done. I also have to cut my 2 1/2" strips together for my Civil War fabric swap. I am getting tired just talking about it.

My Recent Projects

2011-09-18T20:40:00.000-07:00

I have finished FWQAL blocks. This brings my total to 30.

I also finished quilting granddaughter #3's quilt. I just have to finish hand sewing the binding.

I went in to get thread at my LQS and came out with six Civil War FQ's plus thread. It was my birthday so I didn't feel so bad about getting a little extra.

Denyse Schmidt fabrics

2011-09-15T10:04:00.000-07:00

I was looking at my e-mail and Jo-Ann's has a sale on the new Denyse Schmidt (DS Fabrics) line. If you are a lover of Denyse Schmidt this is the time to buy fabric at $6.99 per yard. See link below:

http://www.joann.com/joann/search/searchall.jsp?qsearch=DS&keyword=_usrch%3ADS

From Linda to Susan

2011-09-04T21:25:00.000-07:00

I joined Block Swap Adventure. I received my first block from Linda and I couldn't be happier. It is pretty in purple. I have not finished my block for her yet but it is going to be in her red, white and blue color scheme.

Samantha's Quilt

2011-09-02T20:58:00.000-07:00

I got another quilt top done. Granddaughter Number 3. Her room is purple and lime green so I tried for those colors. I embroidered the label but I ran out of bobbin thread in the middle of the background and when I started up again it was slightly off. Next time start with a full bobbin is my motto.

More FW Blocks Done

2011-08-30T19:26:00.000-07:00

I did a redo of Block 23 - Country Farm. My other block was too small and askew. I also did #69, #30 and #39. I am now at 27 blocks.

I almost have my granddaughter's quilt done. Just have to embroider the label.

I also took a picture of the Sunbonnet Sue block I found at an antique mall in Brownwood last month. I like the lace trim.

Flannel Rag Quilt

2011-08-25T19:57:00.000-07:00

I got the rag quilt done yesterday. Luckily I have spring loaded scissors. Clipping all the seam allowances only took about an hour. I took a quick pic this morning and took it with me to work to give to the lucky grandpa.

Four More Blocks

2011-08-23T20:51:00.000-07:00

I got four more FW blocks done this weekend. I am now caught up. My Ribbons will probably be a do over. I kept trimming and trimming. It would be great if it wasn't too small.

I am doing a flannel rag quilt for a co-worker. They bought the fabric. All I have left to do is the cutting. Luckily I bought those spring-loaded scissors. They are amazing and save the hands. I should be able to add a picture tomorrow.

I have two quilts I need to get quilted. My Dad and one of my granddaughters have birthdays this month. Since this month is almost over I need to get cracking.

New Quilt Finish

2011-08-14T18:01:00.000-07:00

Man, it took me a lot longer to do the binding than I figured. First you have to sew the strips together, then iron, then sew it around the perimeter of the quilt doing all that mitering stuff and then hand sew to the back. Whew. I also had to mess around with my embroidery machine in order to get the label right.

I feel like I have been through a marathon the last two weekends but it is done.

Bottled Rainbow Block

2011-08-08T12:09:00.000-07:00

I finally finished one of my Bottled Rainbow QAL blocks. The QAL is over by the way. Oh well. This is a quilt-as-you-go kind of quilt. It uses Kona solids for the border and white in the middle. It is all sewn to the batting. Then the fun part. You use scraps that match the border fabric. In this case the more orange the better. I don't have too many modern scraps so this was a stretch for me. I think it turned out okay. I have lots to go. Maybe pink is next. I have a lot of pink.

I got two more blocks for the Farmer's Wife QAL. I now have 20 done. Only 91 more to go.

Today I am quilting my son's quilt. I am starting out with stitch in the ditch. I am not sure yet what I am going to do with the border and the 9" blocks. They look sort of empty with no stitching in them.

More Farmer's Wife Blocks

2011-08-02T04:32:00.000-07:00

My company is finally gone so I got back into the quilting groove this weekend. I got four more blocks done for my FWQAL. I also had four blocks from my other Farmer's Wife quilt that I did not use because the colors did not end up fitting in. I am not sure I still can use them but I've got them up on my design wall with my other blocks. They are the ones with black and white fabric. I am still thinking about it. If you have any opinions please share. Sorry for the quality of the picture. Not my best effort.

I also got my son's quilt pin basted. This is the first time I have done this. My other two quilts that I completed I used fusiboo. Speaking of the 2nd quilt I completed. I sent it off to my granddaughter without taking a picture. My daughter is supposed to send pix so I can have a record of it. Pin basting on the floor for a few hours made me a little creaky. I am going to straight line quilt it. Not sure exactly how. I had to stop at the pin basting point and read my book for my mystery book club for Wednesday. It was set in Saudi Arabia. Being a women a Saudi Arabia sounds like it is very constraining.

First Complete Quilt

2011-07-17T19:26:00.000-07:00

Yeah. I finally did it. I was under pressure to get a quilt done for a baby shower. I had pieced the top a few months ago. I bit the bullet. I pulled out my fusi-boo and my top and backing fabric and ironed away. Then I put on the walking foot and did some straight (or semi-straight) lines to quilt it together. It was not as horrible an experience as I anticipated. It inspired me to get started on a quilt for one of my granddaughters. I had put the sandwich together but had not quilted it. Stitching in the ditch is not as easy as it looks.

Anyway I took pictures of the baby quilt. I used a max and whiskers by moda charm pack and then a yard of coordinating fabric for the backing. Hopefully my next top will look a little better. First time with binding also. That turned out pretty well.

I only managed one of my FW quilt blocks. We were on vacation and last week my allergies were so bad I couldn't breathe. Dang the heat. Hopefully when I get back into town next weekend I can put more together. I am getting behind.

Finally a chance to sew

2011-06-26T11:13:00.000-07:00

I finally managed to get one block for my Farmer's Wife QAL sewn. Yeh.

I got three more cut out. My grandson helped me. He liked to turn the handle on my Go Baby. I picked some with the 2 1/2" triangles. He also picked out the fabric. He did a good job. Maybe quilting is in his future. (HeHe). I have all three grandkids over now so I better get back to my grandma job.

More Farmer's Wife Blocks

2011-06-16T19:35:00.000-07:00

I managed to get six more blocks done before I am descended on by grandchildren.

Busy Day

2011-06-13T19:45:00.000-07:00

I have been a busy camper today. I got eight blocks cut out for my Farmer's Wife QAL. I got two of them sewed together. I have so much fun picking out fabrics for the blocks. Yeah. I did get two sewn together. Spool and Bat wings.

I also got all of my fabric washed, ironed and all the Kona solids cut for my Bottled Rainbow QAL which is ending this month and I am just getting started. Oh well. I need to get more scraps in order to do the blocks. Most of my scraps are pastels or civil war and don't match the bright fabrics in this QAL. I will get it done eventually.

This is a quilt as you go ticker tape quilt. I am excited to get started. I might even have enough purple fabric.

On Saturday we went to Buda and I got to pick out some fabric for my Farmer's Wife Quilt at B&B Quilting. They have the nicest selection of florals. I love going there.

Sunday we headed down to Blanco for the Lavender Festival. They always have good speakers. This year we learned how to make cleaning products using lavender and how to grow lavender. Also had a great lunch at the Uptown Cafe. It was a little warm but not too bad. There was one quilter there. She had quilts that were hand-quilted. They were very nice. It didn't look like she sold too many even though her prices were reasonable.

Farmer's Wife Redone

2011-06-11T08:33:00.000-07:00

Well call me crazy but I signed up to do a Farmer's Wife QAL. I guess I am a glutton for punishment. I completed a lap quilt with 50 blocks earlier this year from blocks I made for my Farmer's Wife class last year. It was so much fun I guess I am inspired to do it again.

I am doing to blocks in florals and matching solids. I have lots of fat quarters that are floral. My husband and I both like floral fabric. The first block was number 9.

Then I did number 73. I guess I am going to do whatever strikes me. That is what I did last time and it worked well for me. I am going to try to get all 111 blocks done for the king size but the paper piecing of some of them might do me in. We will see.

Doodle Bricks

2011-06-05T21:07:00.000-07:00

I got my Doodle Bricks pieced. I still have to trim the sides. It is certainly bright and cheery. I hope the expectant Mom is going to like it. I hope it looks less wavy when it is quilted. I sewed every other row from a different direction like I was supposed to. I hope this is just the way it is placed on the design wall.

I also forgot to post a picture of a vintage block I found last weekend in Georgetown. It is a circle with fabric fanning out around it. I am not sure what I am going to do with it but I have some 1930's reproduction fabric that matches. I might have to learn how to applique.

String Blocks

2011-06-05T15:51:00.000-07:00

I got all of my string blocks for my Quiltsville exchange. I made 22 blocks. Two blocks made a set. I tried to just pull fabric randomly. I just could not do it. I had to have some color theme going. I know some of the other participants have more random fabrics. I guess I am not free enough to do it yet. Hopefully I will get to that point. I used all scraps. I did not have to cut into any of my fat quarters. I guess that means that I had a lot of scraps. I still have lots left over. These are my quilt scraps. I have also purchased scraps from etsy that are from more modern designers. Most of my scraps were Moda, Red Rooster, Civil War or other traditional fabrics. I have not really used my other scraps. I am planning on using them for my Bottled Rainbow quilt-a-long which I will eventually get to.

Here are my blocks. First time to do string blocks. They were fun but a bit time consuming.

String Blocks

You can see that most of my fabrics are dark. There are a few light beige, pink and green. Hope that the fellow swappers enjoy my blocks.

I finally uploaded the picture of my fix on the square in there block. See picture.

There is a Square in There

I made it so I did not have to match the stripes. That was kind of cheating but it looks so much better.

I never did put in a picture of last month's solids club from Pink Chalk Fabrics. Pinks and Grays.

I have my string blocks all bundled up and ready to ship when I get back from my business trip on Thursday.

I found out that the person I was making a baby quilt for is going on leave next week. Don't think I am going to have it done on time. I am still sewing strips together. I kind of stopped that project to work on my string blocks. Back to the baby quilt next weekend.

It has been a productive day. My DH helped me pick out strings for my last four blocks. I was getting tired of picking fabric. He is so helpful and has good color sense.

Been Awhile

2011-05-30T20:48:00.000-07:00

I have been to St. Louis two weeks ago and then last week out on an audit. Haven't had much time to quilt until this weekend. I did work on my baby quilt a few weeks ago. I had to take one block apart and redo it. It was way to crooked.

I took a picture but haven't uploaded it yet. Will try to get that done tomorrow.

I have been working on my string blocks for my Quiltsville swap. The hard part was ironing my scraps. The blocks are fun and easy. I will post pictures tomorrow. Just wanted to put down in words what my quilting life has been like. Not too much lately. I need some relaxing time with me and my sewing machine.

A productive weekend

2011-05-02T15:37:00.000-07:00

I managed to accomplish quite a bit on the weekend and today my day off. First off I finished my "There's a Square in There" blocks. I was moaning about using stripes. Well it didn't work too well. My stripe fabric is a little wonky. This is probably going to end up in the charity quilt pile. It was a good introduction in how to do this quilt so it was not a total loss. Just picked up the rest of the Moda white to finish it up.

Doesn't look to bad far away but close up. Well...

On Saturday I did an easy peasy quilt from my pattern called "Fat Quarter Shuffle" You use six fat quarters and cut them all at once. Then you shuffle the pieces down in the pile and sew it together. My picture came out a little light but you can get the idea. I got the fat quarters from ebay and they have been sitting out on my desk for awhile. Had to end up washing them and so I decided I better use them before I had to wash them again. Need to find a border still.

Saturday I also made it to Joann's. They had patterns on sale and I scored Denise Schmidt's new pattern for $1.99. It was regularly $15.99. It is all wonky blocks so I did not want to pay too much in case I decide I can't deal with the wonkiness.

Saturday was also a good day in the mail. I participated in my first fabric swap. We swapped "Kitchen Sink" 2 1/2 strips. The fabrics are fairly traditional. I should be able to make a great scrappy quilt in the future. The next swap is string blocks. I am going to practice making a few before I sign up.

Sunday I cut out my fabric for "Doodle Bricks". I started putting it together today but it is taking me longer than I thought. I have a picture of progress to date. I am afraid I am going to lose my light.

As a state employees we got the "opportunity" to sign up for Walk Across Texas where you walk for around 13 miles per week for three months and earn a half day off. I signed up and of course it is raining today. Hopefully it will stop before the light gives out. We do need the rain so it is not a total loss. At my doctor's appointment I got the "you need to exercise" lecture so I need to follow up on this.

Whew. This was a long post for me. I got a lot done.

Central Park Baby Quilt

2011-04-27T04:52:00.000-07:00

I got busy on Sunday afternoon and finished piecing my "Central Park" baby quilt. I decided to put a solid border on it. Fabric on hand on Easter Sunday.

Monday was also pretty productive. I got this pattern from Lola Pink's shop from the designer Kate Conklin. It is a variation of a log cabin and you cut four blocks at once. My kind of pattern. I am making the baby quilt first from my Katie Jump Rope fabric. Next time I will think hard about using stripes. Not coming out perfect. Oh well. Hope to get it done by the end of the week. I already have the fabric "Hope Valley" for the lap version. I just wanted to try it out first.

Summer Breeze

2011-04-21T12:03:00.000-07:00

My husband and I went to the quilt store in Georgetown when we went to the Poppy Festival last weekend. I picked up few odds and ends on sale and he decided I needed 12 fat quarters of Moda's Summer Breeze. Who was I to argue.

I don't think I got all of the fat quarters in the picture but you get the idea. I am going to use the Yellow Brick Road pattern. It is easy and fast unlike my churn dash and farmer's wife recent efforts.

I also made a baby quilt out of a Max and Whiskers charm pack and I am making another out of Central Park by Kate Spain. I have co-workers who have had grandchildren recently and I am just looking for something small to give them.

You can see part of the Central Park nine patches to the right of my quilt. Coincidentally, the pattern I am using the Central Park for is a Kate Spain pattern called "Verna". I downloaded the other charm square pattern using Max and Whiskers from Sew Mama Sew. I love free so thank you Elizabeth Hartman.

I also did not get a chance to post seven things about myself from the Stylish Blogger Award thanks to LaDonna and Diana at A Sisterly Connection. When I go out of town on business for a week it takes me a while to recuperate.

1. I only have a year and a half until I am eligible for Medicare (a round-about way of stating my age)
2. I had a granddaughter die of SIDS about four years ago.
3. I really enjoy gardening even though that is on hold for now since we are presently living in an apartment.
4. I love school and attended graduate school about 10 years ago and worked on plant tissue culture. I am a scientist wannabe.
5. My favorite color is hot pink. I have a hot pink holder for my iphone and macbook.
6. I was blogging for several years on a site called Vox which is now defunct. I had a lot of photography buddies. My husband and I share a love of photographing, what else, flowers.
7. My favorite food is Mexican. Coming to Texas from Missouri I really got lucky food-wise.

I guess that wraps it up.

Sash and Dash

2011-04-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

The middle portion of my Sash and Dash quilt is done. Yeh! It is one of those quilts that I started and put down several times. Churn Dash blocks are tedious sometimes. I don't have the fabric for the borders yet so I will get to that later.

Have to head out of town again so I only had time for a quicky post.

Give-away at JayBird Quilts

2011-04-06T10:02:00.001-07:00

I just was on JayBird Quilts blog. She is having a great give-away of fabric from The Fabric Shoppe which is an etsy shop. So much yummy fabric.

New fabric both ordered and received

2011-04-03T13:58:00.000-07:00

I was out of a town the week before last and last week I was just really unmotivated. I sewed a few blocks but that was it. I was on a fabric buying tear though. I received my $1.00 fat quarters that I ordered from an etsy shop. Cute and bright pinks and purples. Worth every penny.

I also decided I was going to join Stitched in Color's Rainbow Quilt-along. I found three of my colors at the local Hancocks. Went to Pink Chalk and ordered more. I could not believe it, I had Chartreuse and Marine in my cart and when I went to pay they were unavailable. I will get to those later.

I also have more scraps coming. Can't wait. Have so many scrap patterns and not enough scraps.

I also finally ordered one of those mini irons. I can finally do some quilt in the hoop on my embroidery machine. Add that to my list of projects.

Hopefully I will be motivated this week. I have a few more blocks for my Churn Dash quilt to finish tonight and then I can move on to another project.

Last night out of town

2011-03-24T21:03:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here at the hotel reading blog posts from my Google reader. Trying to catch up with my subscriptions. Looks like everyone is having a productive week. I am anxious to get back home and start up the sewing machine. I still have one unfinished project to finish up before I get started on something new. I am making a churn dash quilt with 9.5" finished blocks. It is about 2/3 done. Hopefully I will feel motivated this weekend. It is a slow go with the half-square triangles. A baby quilt is next on the horizon so I hope I get this one done soon.

Finished with Farmer's Wife

2011-03-20T21:00:00.000-07:00

I finally got the borders on my Farmer's Wife quilt. Now I can hang it in the closet along with the other pieced tops that I have not quilted yet. But it is off my list of UFO's.

Yes. All Done.

My husband and I went to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower center to the art and artisans show on Saturday. I picked up some notecards that are prints of dried flowers and a lovely print of a water color of a geranium. It is going to be on my inspiration board when I get one put up.

It is so pretty

Farmer's Wife

2011-03-14T20:28:00.000-07:00

Well I got the last of the top pieced. I am so glad. This UFO has been weighing on my mind.

Got two of the borders on tonight.

Next weekend done for sure.

I also took a break and went to my LQS. This was after I pinned the last sashing strip in place three times. First time I did not have enough sashing strips. Had not counted in the diagram. Next the setting triangle on the left was upside down. Now you can see why I needed a break.

I got a charm pack and a yard of Max and Whiskers while I was there. Need to make a few baby quilts in the next month and that fabric is just so cute.

Farmer's Wife

2011-03-09T04:57:00.000-08:00

I finally am in the last stages of putting the farmer's wife quilt together. This was my first project ever. I took a class at Honey Bee here in Austin. This was probably not the best project to start with but it got me going fast. We had to churn out 10 blocks a month. I got everything done but four blocks and put it aside to try some simpler patterns like "Turning Twenty Again". I was finally motivated to finish my four blocks and get started with putting it together. The blocks are put together on the diagonal so it is setting triangles, sashing and the like. I am about 3/4 of the way finished. Will post a pix when I have it done. I started out using mostly Moda fabrics so a lot of my quilt was made from Moda charm packs.

Flea Market Fancy

2011-03-04T21:24:00.000-08:00

Well I got my Katie Jump Rope in the mail. Yeh. I did some bidding on ebay and scored a yard of Flea Market Fancy fabric. I followed that up with two fat quarters on Etsy. Now I am the proud owner of 1.5 yards of Flea Market Fancy in a few different pinks. I still have a few bids outstanding but who knows if I will win any more. I can make what I have into a baby quilt if nothing else.

Katie Jump Rope

2011-02-28T09:53:00.000-08:00

I just tracked down and bought some Katie Jump Rope fabric on Ebay. A yard and a half in total. Three different patterns. I guess when I get it I will have to go the the LQS and track down something to match. I also bid on some FMF fabric. I didn't look at the auction too closely. I was bidding on 9" x 11" pieces. The bidding for four was up to $12.00. I hope someone outbids me. I am not that fond of the fabric. Someone had an auction for fat quarters of the whole Katie Jump Rope line for $85.00. Little out of my league at least for right now. If I am going to pay that much I will get some of that fancy Australian "Ink and Squiggles" for $15.00 per fat quarter.

Gardening On Hold

2011-02-18T07:24:00.000-08:00

I am still an apartment dweller so my gardening is on hold for the time being. I have started a new hobby. One that can be done indoors. QUILTING. Yeh. I started about a year ago and have already pieced about 20 tops. None of these have been finished because I have not had the courage to try free-motion quilting. That is next on my list.

New seeds sprouting

2009-05-10T14:59:00.001-07:00

OK I got carried away again last weekend. I started more herbs and some zinnias, marigolds and portulaca. Everything has started to germinate. I see more patio pots in my future. I have potted up my basil and chives and monarda. I am trying to get everything hardened off. If I can't have a large garden plot than I can at least have plenty of pots on our patio.

No sunflower seeds

2009-04-23T16:02:00.000-07:00

I haven't gotten my sunflower seeds yet for the bee counting project. I am hoping they come soon. We are already having 90 degree weather here in Austin. I need to pot up my basil seedlings. A task for this weekend. I need to come up with some cheap pots. I have more seeds to start so I need to get going on that project too. Job hunting and practicing my Word and Excel skills have taken this week over. Had one job interview. Hope to hear back by next week.

Finally some action from the rosemary and parsley

2009-04-20T20:30:00.000-07:00

The parsley and rosemary just started to germinate. According to the seed packets they are about a week behind the basil and chives. They started coming up right on time. I got some more seeds this weekend. They were on sale. More herbs. I also got a variegated lemon thyme. My husband has been wanting one and I found it at Lowes. I haven't planted the seeds yet. Waiting for my basil to grow out a little so I will have room under my plant lights. I have been enjoying other blogspot gardening blogs. Mr. Brown Thumb always makes me chuckle.

Green and Purple Basil

2009-04-17T20:09:00.000-07:00

Well I am getting some growth on my basil seedlings. I have a few monarda seedings but not as good a germination rate as the basil. I also started some purple basil. They are so cute. I have a few chives but no rosemary or parsley yet. Having my seedlings is keeping me sane. Job hunting is not fun. Have to show some pix of my babies. I need some better plant lights, however, I will have to make due for the time being. My poor babies are stretching toward the light.

Gardening in Austin

2009-04-07T08:50:00.001-07:00

I recently moved to Austin, TX quite unexpectedly. I was planning on moving here when I sold our house in St. Louis, however, my husband fell and broke his femur and had to have surgery so I came down immediately.

I am planning on starting some seeds today. I went to the local gardening center and they had Thompson and Morgan seeds. I always order from them online but had not seen their seeds at a garden center since Frank's went out of business. Got some basil and monarda seeds. Both require light to germinate. I have a patio to garden in. Hopefully I get enough light. I had already ordered a seed starting system from Gardener's Supply. It is made of styrofoam with a wicking system. I have used them before and really like how my seeds turn out. I had to compost my St. Louis seedlings before I left. Goodbye zinnias and marigolds.

I am looking forward to getting a house here with a sunny place to garden in.

Bee counting project

2009-03-30T21:26:00.000-07:00

I recently signed up to be part of the bee counting project. There is a group called the Great Sunflower that is drafting ordinary gardeners like myself to help count bees this summer. You sign up and receive a free packet of Lemon Queen sunflower seeds. You then grow these seeds and when your plants flower you count the bees that come to your sunflowers. There are instructions on how to do this at their website. If every gardener in the U.S. did this, then we could get a better idea of what damage the Colony Collapse Disorder has done to the bee population of the U.S. and Canada.

If you are interested in joining up, their website is: greatsunflower.org.

This sounds like it could be a great project to do with kids or grandkids.

Paper Journal

2009-03-29T22:05:00.001-07:00

I have started a paper gardening journal. I am trying to get more practice in creative writing and make my posts longer. When I am on the computer I seem to make my posts short but sweet. When writing in my paper journal I go for a longer post. Hopefully, I can make my computer posts longer and more interesting.

Well on to gardening. My seedlings are sprouting happily. I am surprised that I have had better germination rates with some inexpensive Burpee zinnia seeds and less than stellar germination rates from my expensive Thompson and Morgan marigold seeds ( okay they were free, but if I had to buy them then they would have been expensive). So far the total is 14 marigolds to 43 zinnias. Hopefully they marigolds will start popping up soon. My husband likes Marigolds and I would like to have some in my small border.

I am going to start some lavender seeds next week. They are lavendula augustifola "Blue Sky Elegance". They are supposed to flower the first year from seed. I shall find out. I am hoping to take some cuttings from some "Provence" and "Grosso" plants this fall. I am planning on buying some nice sized plants at the Lavender Festival in Blanco in June. I am so looking forward to going to the lavender festival this year. Last year my husband went and got some great pictures.

Marigolds and Zinnia

2009-03-25T22:05:00.000-07:00

I just started some marigold and zinnia seeds in a seed starting medium in six packs. I was totally surprised to have started them on Monday morning and by Tuesday evening I had some seeds that had already germinated. I was not ready for this. I did not have my light put together and ready. I had to scramble this morning to get the light over the emerging seedlings. Now the excitement begins. I plan on setting these out in the garden in a few weeks. I should have at least one set of true leaves by then. I read MrBrownThumb's blog and got inspired. I already have a blog on Vox but this is mostly for my photography and general life stuff. Didn't have a home for my gardening side.

I got the marigold seeds from Thompson and Morgan as a bonus with the rest of my order. I always have good luck with their seeds. The zinnia seeds I picked up at Home Depot. Hope I have a good germination rate.

Propagation is the most fun anyone can have, in my opinion. That is why I went back to school and took horticulture classes. Propagation was my favorite. When those first seed leaves come popping out of the soil I really get excited. Now that my seeds are starting to germinate, I will be watching closely. That is the fun of gardening for me.