Colin's Tshirt quilt finished!

It's packed up and ready to go to Seattle. I like the color when outside, just need a higher place to hang it.
Of course Mama Kitty was wondering what was going on...
Hmmmm....wonder what is going on back here?
Guess who......by the time I took it down they were both sitting on the swing under it. I should've taken a picture of that too.

Sewing something-- not a quilt...

I'm not sure I should claim this or not, but after searching all over for a new cushion for my swing I ended up recovering it. It's not my best sewing job, but it will do, I guess, for outside, if you don't look too closely. It is kind of an orange & red small stripe. I might put some buttons on it or something. Looks better than the old, worn-out one. Ya have to wonder why you can't buy new ones, though.
Since I was outside with the camera I thought I would take a couple pix of flowers. This is my cigar plant...interesting flowers on it.
The catnip (on the left) has been nibbled on, though they prefer it when I cut it off for them. They aren't spoiled, but the scent is stronger after it is cut. Well, maybe they are spoiled.
I love the sweet scent of petunias...these are right outside the back door, so smell them everytime I go outside.

Sunday is the cat's day to rest.....

One inside.....
One outside.....she likes the shade on the steps....(I do have flowers out there, but you can't see them, they are on the other side of the steps.)

Oh wait, they rest every day....lol...at least around here.

I am quilting a quilt for a friend's friend today. It is small and going pretty quickly. I like those. I have a few more to do to be caught up, including 2 for my mom and one for my sister (who, by the way, is chomping at the bit for hers). I still need to get the binding on that other quilt so it can be off to it's new owner too.

Yesterday's UFO day and Friday's here!

We had a great UFO day yesterday. We had 4 quilt top finishes, a pillow finished (her second sewing project!), a stack n whack problem conquered & some great chit chat.

She is just as sweet as she looks....and very proud of her second pillow.
Besides this finish (some baby will love this), she also worked on layering and pinning a very large quilt top. She is ready to quilt it.
Yea!!!!! A sampler quilt top finished. Don'cha love her garden?
She has had problems with this one, has brought it to UFO day before, but finished it yesterday!
Her color choices really make this Sampler pop! I have been trying to talk her out of that border fabric for months...it is gorgeous!

Busy quilting week....

I quilted most of the day yesterday, after an emergency run to buy batting. I am working on a customer quilt. She wanted something simple so it is going pretty quickly. I want to finish it this morning, then have a UFO class this afternoon and a Sampler class this evening. Saturday I have a Stack n Whack class, then I have no more day classes until.....well until I schedule some! I need a little time to get caught up, regroup and make new stuff. I will still have my night Sampler classes in July and August.

Hopefully I will have pix tomorrow of a finished quilted top!

Tuesday already?

Had a great time at my family reunion Sunday. Saw some folks I hadn't seen in a long time. Then my daughters came over for Father's Day that evening.

Monday I went Quilt shopping with friends to Country Traditions in Fremont NE. It is a very nice store and I had such good luck. I have been wanting to get some of the Paper Dolls fabric since I saw it in a magazine and they had some. I also knew that my sister wanted some too, so got on the phone and called her. My cousin who was staying with her for the reunion wanted some too.....so I got some for all of us! lol Isn't it cute? I have many great memories of playing paper dolls with my sisters.
Mama Kitty is wondering...what, no kitties?
I also got these yesterday too. They were on sale! You wouldn't want me to pass up a good sale, now would you? OK...no more shopping til I get some more quilts finished!
I have been working on a baby quilt for another great niece...this one isn't born yet, so I am still on schedule. I quilted my SIL's quilt this morning too. Now to get it bound. *big sigh*

T-shirt quilt

I have been working on this t-shirt quilt for my SIL this week. I got the t-shirts when I was out there last summer....yes, I am slow...so wanted to get it finished for his birthday next week. If you are reading this Angie, don't tell, I want him to be surprised when it comes. He has probably forgotten that I took them, it has been so long! He loves music so we decided to use some music prints and picked out a beautiful fabric with gold instruments on it for the border. I am off to sew these blocks together now and maybe get it finished today so I can quilt it.

Shanghai Circus and Fabrics

While in Branson we went to see the New Shanghai Circus. It was fabulous...lots of good acts of all kinds, ballet, acrobatics, balancing and even magic. We really enjoyed it. This is a picture I found online, not the greatest, but you get the idea.
I also managed to find a few fabrics at Sew Simple Quilt Store in Springfield. Aren't those cherries cute? Nice store, small but lots of nice fabrics. They also had a lot of beautiful quilt displays to inspire.

The Deep Dark Cave & 200th Post!

We went to Fantastic Caverns while in Springfield also. They take you on a riding tour through the cave. It was interesting and fun. Here is one of the sinkholes.....scary, though it doesn't look like it on this picture. One of them went down 35 ft.
Beautiful stalagmites and stalactites. I always get mixed up on which is which, though!
There was actually a stage in here and back in the 20's they had concerts in this cave!
Here we are leaving, most people had to duck. The kids on here were brave...one adult got off when we were just barely inside and walked back out...claustrophobia maybe?

This is my 200th post, can you believe it? so I am cooking up a giveaway to celebrate! Stay tuned....

Back from Missouri

Branson Mo. Ducks!
These Ducks are so much fun, you go touring around an area in them. They were originally designed & built in WWII to be used on land and water so they could send troups and supplies from ships to land. These Ducks are built using that design and adding a roof. Here is info if you are interested in finding out more about how they were used during wartime. They were also used during Hurricane Katrina to rescue people stranded by flooding.
My daughter...on the Duck...

Here we go into the water! Weeeeeeee!!!!!!!

We had a great trip to Springfield to see my sister and brother in law. Here we are riding the Ducks...my folks, my sister and you can almost see my BIL. I'd never ridden them before, but it was fun. You get to see some of the area and go land and water. Our tour guide said the wheels are still turning even in the water. We just drove right in!

I did manage to find a quilt store too...more on that later.

UFO day & off to Missouri

Hosted a UFO day yesterday at the store...lots of sewing and chatting going on. Here are some of the UFO's finished.
Phyllis got this top finished!
Dianne got the blocks for 2 quilts sewn together.
De finished this, then noticed a problem...
One of the ladies brought her daughter, so she made her first sewing project, a crazy pieced pillow.
She cut and sewed for 4 hours....
What a sweetie!

We are leaving this morning for Springfield MO to see my sister, Kathy, and her husband Ron. One of my daughters and my mom and dad are going with me. Should be a fun trip! I will be back Monday night so hopefully will have some trip news and pictures to share.

It's finished....and I cleaned, don't die of shock!

I was a little worried about the thread as I neared the end. I made it!
I tried taking these pix without the flash, they aren't that great either. One of these days when I have time to mess around, I am going to practice taking some so I can get good color! I used a feather panto and like how it flows into itself with each row.
Here is the back....

After that I decided to clean a room. My house has been sorely neglected the last few months...so it felt good to clean. I have lots of little 'stuff' sitting around, like tea sets and bears and other crafty things I made, so had to wash that stuff and fluff what can't be washed in the dryer. I swear some of it is going to be put away, I am tired of dusting it. But I love my little tea sets, so they will probably stay. And you have to have a few little guys to go to the tea parties. See why I have problems putting stuff away?

This and That and 200th post

I got part of a quilt quilted yesterday, am headed back to it shortly. I am quilting this one for a friend and quilt class student...she made the quilt in class. She actually enlarged it by quite a bit, the original is about 60" x 60" with 9 blocks...she made it queen size. This is it before quilting. She started quilting about 1 1/2 years ago, and has really taken off.

I have known her for a very long time, at least 25 years. We met when we were both doing daycare in our homes. I was walking a kindergarten student to school the first week of school (we live about 6 blocks from school) , just so she would get the route down and I wouldn't worry (she went in the afternoon so had to walk by herself to school, but could walk home with my kids). I saw Jere walking a boy to school a couple of the days, so stopped her one day and asked her if she thought the 2 kids could walk together? She was happy with that and so was I. He was her oldest, so she was happy to have my older kids for him to walk home with too. She only lived a block from me, so we became walking buddies and chatted a lot on the phone about daycare and other important matters. Eventually we both started working for the school district at the school our kids attended...we have been there 19 years.

I think she is the only friend I have made by stopping them on the street. lol

I am taking a trip to Springfield Mo this weekend to see my sister and brother in law....should be a fun trip. I haven't been there before so if anyone knows of a must see quilt shop, let me know. I am going to try to sneak at least one in. My daughter and Mom and Dad are going too.

I am trying to figure out what I am going to do for my 200th post...it is coming soon. Stay tuned!

Quilting away a Sunday....

We had rain all night again Saturday night and it was gloomy most of Sunday, so a good day to quilt this quilt. I tried a new pattern....I like the way it connects. It is called Mini Chaos. I think it looks kind of like a crazy meandering stitch.
This is the muslin back. I need to learn how to get the lighting right when I try to take pictures!!! I am off to put another quilt on the machine.

More rain again last night....that garden should grow like crazy now!

Class pictures....well the ones I remembered to take!

Yesterday's 2nd session of the Lotus Blossom class went well. Darlis had hers finished when she came so we used basting spray to put her layers together and she started quilting it. Darlis has recently started an online store, Quilting Horizon, where she sells lots & lots of patterns...go check it out! (I have added a button on my sidebar too.)

De has all but one of her blocks done and started putting it together yesterday...she needs one more block, but she forgot her green for the leaves.
Dianne's polka dots are so springy, aren't they? Those are her borders under the blocks.

I forgot to take pictures of everyone's blocks. I am so upset with myself! I usually torture them all with picture taking. Hopefully they will bring them in for me to see when finished.

I have been quilting today too. Will post a pic when I am finished.

Omaha Quilt Guild Show

Had a fun morning with friends going to the Omaha Quilt Guild Show. We saw many pretty quilts, and much nice fabrics....I didn't take many pictures as I was too busy looking. I do like this offsize log cabin as it looks like the pieces curve.
And after reading about all the Dear Jane ladies struggling with those tiny blocks, I was most interested to see one in person. This quilt has beautiful blocks and wonderful handquilting. Now I suppose I should get to work on a quilt here! (though not one of these....beautiful, but very intricate piecing!)

BTW...I didn't buy any fabric!

It's finished....

Ok, I pretty much did nothing but this all day yesterday, but it is finished!The color doesn't show up as vibrant as it is, but it is the best I can get now. Sometimes when I take things to the store, I can get a better picture. It does have borders on the top, it just hung too far onto the floor with them showing.
Here is a closeup of the borders... the fabrics are gorgeous. I am glad to have it finished, now to write the pattern. I am going to my mom and dad's today, should be fun. I think we are going to sew a bit. I am taking my son-in-law's t-shirts with to prep them for a quilt. I have had them since last summer, so guess it is about time to start on it...