It worked!

I was hoping that my twisted rail quilt pattern was going to work in a scrappy version.  Click here to see it with just 4 fabrics.  I am pleased with the scrappy version and especially in the red/white/blue scraps.  I have 4 more blocks to sew today and cutting of kits to do as well.  This quilt will probably get a border to make it a little bigger.  I plan to post a tutorial soon.

I remembered to go out yesterday afternoon and take a picture of the porch pots in place.

Here is the top view of the bottom pot.  I just love all of the variety of plants.

More layouts, porch pots

I took pictures of the porch pots while they were in the sun and still sitting on the driveway.  I forgot to get one of them on the porch until it was too dark.  I tried to take a picture with a night setting on my camera but it didn't work well. 

As I walked by the design wall yesterday morning I decided to reverse the layout and make the 'bows' dark instead of light as I showed yesterday.

Then I wondered what would happen if I changed the center.  Of course this design won't work with 6 big blocks but it will on this 4 block plus borders.

And one more layout.  I think the group will have fun with this pattern at the sew-in.

QOV quilt layouts

This is the layout I showed a couple of days ago, but with 2 more blocks added.  Then I tried out some other layouts which I will print to take with me Tuedays to the sew-in.

This second one is like Bento Box.  It will take more time to match seams than the layout above.

A lot of seams need to be matched on this one too.

After seeing this one on the computer monitor, I think the bottom half of blocks should be rotated so there would be a row of squares in the middle and half blocks above and below it.

I bought all of my plants for my porch pots and got 4 of them planted last night.  I will finish today before it gets too hot.  I will remember to take pictures before it gets dark too.

No sewing, garden tour

Evening Primrose, first blooms this year.

Coral Bell close up.

First coreopsis bloom.  I have a lot of volunteer plants from the natural reseeding.

The red penstemon has these tiny little flowers on tall stems.  I had to ask the wind to stop blowing so I could get a good close up.  I didn't sew at all during the day, just petted some fabric and did some cutting.  I'll have some more layouts on the 2 QOV projects to show tomorrow.  I haven't planted my porch pots yet either.  I usually do them right after Mother's Day.  I'm planning on shopping for plants today.

Busy Wednesday

Yesterday morning I visited the house where the donated fabric for the QOV quilts lives.  I chose some more groups to cut for next week.

I am looking for 4 values from dark to light in colors that aren't glaring together. 

From there I traveled to a friend's house where the ladies I used to work with were meeting for lunch.  After I got home from visiting Dad last night I started working on the QOV projects again. 

I made a little progress on both of them.  This is a great project to work with while I decide which quilt of my own to start or maybe which one to finish.  I like to always have something to sew on.

Back to the QOV quilts...............

Remember the quilt project I presented to the QOV group in May?  I sliced and sewed the other 3 stacks.  I need to trim them all to 8.5" so they match the size of the beige squares.  Our next sew in is June 1 so I want to be prepared.

Fun day...........

It was fun to relax and  be with other creative people yesterday.  I picked 2 bouquets of peonies on Sat. night so they would be 'ant free' by yesterday so the flowers could be in the house.

I had one bouquet in the living room and one in the kitchen.  The house smelled like cookies and peonies!  I'm glad you all enjoyed the pictures of the cookies yesterday.

Even the white peonies are beautiful.  The are delicate and fluffy.

Art quilters day..............relaxing with friends

I had a choice, take a picture of cookies or vacuum cleaner.  That was my day yesterday, baking early in the morning because it got up to 90 degrees and vacuuming the basement.  My dehumidifier died so instead of buying one large one that really doesn't do the whole basement very well, I got 2 smaller ones, one for each end.  They are so much quieter than the 4 year old one.  Now for some fun today.......

Successful workshop................

Here is a sampling of what went on at the workshop.  I thought I had pictures of everyone's pieces, but I didn't.   I think everyone had fun and maybe learned a little more about value.  Crazy piecing was popluar and also wonky strips. 

We are going to continue with a scrap quilt class at the local quilt shop next month.     

Ready for the workshop..........

I spent most of the day yesteday rounding up everything I needed to take to the workshop today.  I packed it all in the car last night so I wouldn't feel rushed this morning.

We had rain off and on yesterday with some sunshine thrown in between showers.

I remember someone had the name for these star flowers that have the grass like leaves and little bulbs with roots.  They remind me of onions when I dig them up.  They open when it is bright out and close when it is overcast or dark outside.

I did it!

Ok, the last picture until after it is quilted!  I sewed the last seam last night.  It finished a little less than 66" x 77".

It was a busy day with a hair cut, embroidery club in the afternoon, Dad's Dr. appt. and then a blood test for him at the hospital lab, pick up a sandwich for him.  Then in the evening computer club.  I ended up leaving that meeting early because I was exhausted.

Dad did leave the phone where I put it (surprise!) but he forgot to take his prescription medicine.  The Dr. has decided the medicine isn't helping his platelet count and in fact is raising his white cell count.  He has ordered 2 more tests from blood draws and we see him again next week. Two hours later I dropped Dad off at his apartment.

This is the cranesbill that I started with, a plant from a friend's garden.  I captured it with dappled sunlight and it is so pretty.  I have added at least 4 other varieties to my gardens over the years.  Before I got that first plant I didn't even know there was a hardy geranium and also had never heard its proper name, Cranesbill.  I have learned so much in 16 years of perennial gardening.

Almost there, 6 more seams and a few repairs..........

I finished adding all of the rows in the one direction and now have 5 cross rows sewn, 6 to go. I pinned it up on the design wall so I could get a better look at the points where they need to match.

I have a few mismatches like this one that I will pick out and try again.  Every other seam is points matching, the one between is the center of the squares on point.  I really thought I would finish this yesterday, but I was pretty worn out. 

Dad fell yesterday morning while picking up the phone when I called to tell him I was on my way to pick him up for a blood test.  He is OK.  Last night when I went back over I moved his phone to the nearest corner of the desk as he approaches it.  He always had it on the far corner and when he put a hand on the rolling chair and reached for the phone he fell.  He kept looking at the spot I had moved it to and couldn't figure out how he was going to answer it when it wasn't on the other corner.  His logic is gone, but he's in no worse shape than most of the other residents of his building.  When I go back today to take him to the Dr. office I bet he will have the phone moved back in the unreachable spot.

A few more buds have opened on the peony bush.  It is a deeper burgandy red than this but it never photographs that way. 

Still sewing rows

Not much to show for yesterday.  I met some friends in the morning.  A friend who had moved away was back visiting. 

I have 9 rows sewn now, 5 to go.

Relax.....................

The program went well last night.  Some people I hadn't seen for a long time came as guests to hear me speak.  I came home on a high.............

Mr. Blue Jay posed for me and even looked at the camera.  It is hard to ever get a good picture of them because they move around all the time.

Today is my youngest granddaughter's birthday.  Her confirmation at church was Sunday and next week is her promotion from 8th grade to high school.  There aren't any little kids in the family any more.

Trimming done, rows started

This is the whole pile, trimmings from 168 blocks.  I am too overwhelmed with other things to do anything with it now.  I don't usually put trimmings out for the birds because they scatter them in the yard and they get into the lawn mower.

I got 5 rows sewn last night.  I remembered that I have the barn raising Kaffe triangle quilt that I can take to the program instead, so if this one gets done it goes, if not it stays home.  I worked another hour on the program in the afternoon.

The first peony of the season opened yesterday.  This bush is always the first to bloom, sometimes a week ahead of the others.  I took this picture from my kitchen window with the zoom lens.  Tonight is my scrap quilt program at our local guild.  I will pack the quilts this morning and this afternoon finish a handout that everyone will recieve.

Still trimming

I have about a third of the blocks trimmed.  The fun part of this quilt was the designing time.  I'm having trouble sticking with this trimming but I would like to have this quilt top at my guild program Monday night.  I spent about 3 hours working on the program, figuring out what order the quilts will be shown and what I will say about each of them.

While I was eating breakfast I noticed a bright blue spot on the ground by the bird feeders.  I ran for the camera hoping he was hungry enough to still be there when I got back.  I thought he might be an indigo bunting.

Final layout, trimming squares

I finished cutting triangles and got all of them sewn into squares.  I had hoped to show a picture of it sewn together but I decided to take the time to trim each square first.  They were 6.5" squares cut diagonally and then sewn which means they came out at 6.125" square.

You can see how little there is to trim but I think it will be a neater quilt if I take the time to do this.

The reason I was so upset Thursday about the prescription fiasco is because I support the local independent pharmacy which closes at 6 p.m., not the all night place (chain) where I need not worry if I can get there on time.  Also the Dr. office where my dad's primary Dr. is says they are open until 6 when in fact they close early every day that they don't have appointments late in the day.  That makes it pretty 'iffy' whether you will connect with everyone in time.