Happy Easter!

I have been working hard on that todo list the past few days and have gotten some of the things finished.
I only have one more pattern to write for the new Sampler, so that is making me very happy. I am so excited to start working on the mystery quilt (it's always about the next quilt, isn't it?) so I plan on finishing that tomorrow. I also want to get the flying geese quilt on the quilt machine tomorrow...still haven't sewn the back together, so that needs to happen too.

 My daughter and her boxers came over for a bbq last night...here they are ready to get in the car! I had a good time visiting with her and the dogs enjoyed the backyard. They were pretty worn out by the time they went home!

I'm heading up to Earling for a family Easter celebration today. My sister Kathy and husband are here from MO. I don't get to see her much, so I'm looking forward to visiting with her as well as everybody else!

Happy Easter!

Spring break!

Today is my first day of spring break and I'm just sitting here enjoying the fact that I don't have to go to work! I am off until next Thursday, so I have lots of projects planned, including some cleaning. The list is long, but I hope to get some of it finished!

I need to keep working on writing the patterns for Sampler 17...which is the first thing I plan on doing today.

 I have a quilt I need to get quilted. First I have to sew together the back, but that won't take long. I have been working on this quilt for quite awhile, off and on, so I am excited to finish it. I usually don't have months in between start and finishing the top, but I made this quilt for a demo, and then decided to enlarge it and add to the design. A lot of thinking was happening in the meantime. You know how that goes, right?

I have the fabric for the new mystery quilt, so I want to get started on it as well. I will just keep this beautiful stack of fabric where I can see it to keep me motivated!

Cleaning...the least favorite, but very needed right now. I think I can work that in somewhere too.

It's supposed to be about 60 here today too, so I want to get in a little outside time, maybe I'll get my bike out, inflate the tires and take a spin! Enjoy your Friday!

Peeking in the window....

I delivered the class model for the Modern Cathedral Windows Pillow to the shop on Monday.

I taught one of my sampler classes last night...great group of ladies. I was going to take pictures of their blocks so far, but ended up forgetting! They all had them up on the design walls too! Next time.

I'm really glad it's a short week this week. 

A gorgeous quilt and no reply comment fixed

 Mary took the Tasty Tablerunner class last Saturday and look what she brought to show me! She took the Tumbling Blocks class last Oct. You will see her quilt's beginnings here...scroll down to the last picture. I forgot to ask her what size it is, but it's very large and beautiful. You can tell she is very proud of her work! So am I!

I fixed my no reply comment problem by leaving Google + and going back to Blogger. There is a setting there that you can set to show your email, and that fixes the problem. I'm not sure why you can't do it from Google +, but you can't. At first I was worried about changing back, as there was a warning that after 30 days you would have to enter your info again, so I wasn't sure exactly what that meant....if that would wipe out the blog and I would be starting over or what? But I emailed Jenniffer, who had posted advice on this problem last fall,  to make sure the blog wouldn't be deleted. She was very helpful and told me that once you reset the email preference, you can go back to Google + if you want.  It was easy and fast and now is fixed. See her post if you need help with this.

A great class!

 AS you can see, there was lots of braiding going on Sat. during class. Once they got their pieces cut, they really just took off and sewed like crazy!

It is always interesting looking at the different fabric selections....each has its own unique charm.

 I tried to give the class some other ideas for projects they could make using the ruler they had purchased for the class. There is a template on the pattern so you don't need it, but the ruler does make it much easier. In two weeks I am teaching the Lotus quilt pattern using the same ruler, but in a different way. I love the simple, yet eye catching  pattern and can't wait to see what spin others give it with their fabric choices.

 I worked all day yesterday on the Modern Cathedral Windows pillow, so it is ready to take to the shop later after work.

Ready for some Sunday sewing...

The Tasty Tablerunner class went really well yesterday, with everyone getting a great start on their runners. I will post some pictures tomorrow!

While I was at Cut Up and Quilt, I scheduled a couple more classes. They want me to teach the Modern Cathedral Windows Pillow, so I got some fabric so I can make a model for the store. I cut it out last night so I would be ready to sew this morning. I love the fabrics I picked out, so fresh and pretty. 

I also got the fabrics for a new Mystery Quilt, which I will teach on 3 Wed. nights in May/June. I am really excited to get started on that, too. 

I am looking forward to some extra time off...we have spring break beginning on Friday. I have lots to do, including quilting a quilt and writing some patterns. But for today, I'm just going to sew. Hope you are sewing today too!

Braid table runner class today!

 Today I am teaching another group of quilters the easy way to make a braid using the Hex n More ruler. I had such a good time teaching this class at Cut Up and Quilt last time, that I'm really looking forward to class today. I have made some other things that can be done with the hexies and other shapes that you can cut using this ruler, so I  hope they walk away from the class with lots of ideas for new projects!

 I want to put a braided border on a quilt soon. I think it would look so nice. Have you ever done a braided border?

Friday Eve

I know what you're thinking....she hasn't been sewing, so she has to post pictures of her cats. But you have to admit, they are adorable! Someone thinks she is the top cat!

I did finish the borders on the new sampler, so I hung it on display last night at the store when I went there to teach the first session of the new sampler pick class. With this class, they can choose one of the samplers I have designed and make it in six sessions. It was a great group and we had lots of fun.

I have a design ready for a mystery quilt, so I guess that is next on the cutting table! 

Aren't we comfy?

I cut the borders for the new sampler last night. It has two final borders, but one of them is only on the top and bottom. I got that one sewn on and half of the last border. It shouldn't take me too long to finish it tomorrow night. I need to figure out what to name it too!

I also ran the copies for the sampler class that begins Wed. night. I have a Sampler Pick, with several people doing different samplers in the same class, so had to run several different sets of patterns.

I also watched The Following...that show gets creepier every week.

Still no fix for my no-reply comment problem.

Colorful Prisms!

 My problems with my comments showing up as no reply isn't over yet. Several people sent suggestions and I thought I had fixed it, but it is still a problem so I'm still trying to figure out what to do to fix it. It's really frustrating, especially since the change happened sometime since Mar. 11. I didn't change anything in the past few days, so that is what makes me think it was an update they did to Blogger. Has anyone else had a problem this week?

 I had a great time Saturday teaching people how to paper piece using a different technique. They took to it like ducks to water, even one who professed to "hate" paper piecing.

Everyone was excited to use up some of their scraps and leftovers from other projects.

I think these will be really pretty when finished. It would be so easy to just keep making them until you had a throw....I hope I get a chance to do that!

  I spent a good part of yesterday working on the patterns for the new Sampler. I wish I could say they were finished, but not even close. A start is a start, though.

no reply comment ...HELP!

A reader noticed this week that when I commented on their blog, it came up as a no reply comment. I have commented many times on her blog, so she went back to a comment I posted a few days before to get my email address and let me know. I'm not sure if there was an update between March 11 and March 14, but somewhere in that time frame it changed to no reply comment.

So I went on a search of the new blogger interface to see if I could figure out how to fix it. In the old version, you could go to your Dashboard, click on profile, edit profile, then "check" the show my email box.  The Dashboard is now called Overview, so I started there, going through every option there was. No luck. I tried Blogger Help, no luck. I had joined my blog with my google id several months ago, so thought maybe that had something to do with it....no luck. I thought about emailing blogger, but I knew that someone out there in blogland would know how to fix this, and I would probably get a quicker response. 

Has anyone else had this problem this week? Does anyone have a way to fix this? I would appreciate any help you can give!

Borders for a great ending...

 I had a hard time choosing the borders for this sampler, so I ended up with the violet polka dot that I used in some of the blocks and a teal that looks good with the teal in the quilt. Of course my assistant had to get a close up look at the fabrics and see if they looked good with the quilt.

I got a lot done at work yesterday...the book carts were filling up so I spent a good share of the day shelving books. I don't always get much of that accomplished with kids coming and going...seems like I get started putting books away and someone needs help. But today was a little slower day so I got almost caught up. That doesn't happen much! Of course I got more books in after that....but I was caught up for a little while!   I also worked on some of the new books that I bought at the book fair last month. Lots of these are paperback picture books, which I want to get cataloged and in circulation. The kids are always excited about new books to read!

Yarn Bombs

I'm not sure how I missed hearing about Yarn Bombs, but now that I have I love looking at the various ways people have used yarn to decorate the environment. It's a form of grafitti, but definitely brightens up the landscape. Have you ever tried it?

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A little at a time.....soon.....

We had a blizzard on Sunday, so on Monday a snow day for me! I got lots of sewing done, as well as some pattern writing. The best thing about this snowstorm was that by Monday afternoon it was already melting. It was cold and windy yesterday, but it is supposed to warm up by the end of the week.

The pieced border is coming along nicely....Conrad really loves it!

Whew! time for a nap after working so hard!

Lots of circles!

Saturday's Circle and Spin class went really well. I taught a group that meets regularly in a church basement, and have a great rapport with each other. There were no design walls, so we taped the blocks on the walls.

 It always looks so pretty when they are displayed. Everyone loved watching their friends quilts grow.

Lots of different fabric colorways....from batiks to brights to earth tones to monochromatic. A little of everything.

 And they all looked great!

 I have had some of the students in classes before, but also met some new faces so it was fun.

 I think many of them were surprised with how much they got finished!

 Lots of brights and batiks...I wanted to snatch a few for my collection!

 She's been collecting purples for a long time....lots of interesting prints.

 She is donating this one to a kid's group in town. Someone will be very lucky to have this bright and cheerful quilt!

More about the tree, etc...

 I got the new book tubs labeled and in place, so took some more pictures. You can see the whole wall that the tree is on in the picture below. It really does need something. Still thinking of putting some words on the wall.

 Here are a few of the quotes I have so far:
Reading is dreaming with open eyes.
Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.
You know you've read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend. (I like this one, but it is probably too long.)

I picture the letters flowing across the wall, sort of like the wind. Not sure if that is possible or not, but maybe with the right font, it could be accomplished.

I like this quote too, but I got this poster, so don't want to use it again. It is one of those sticky vinyl posters...I hung it on a rust colored wall behind my desk and it looks awesome there. I forgot to take a pic of it, though. 

I was too busy taking all of these other pictures of the cute tubs! This is entrance to the library. When I am looking at the door, the other section with the two bookcases is to the left of the doors. 

 I didn't label these tubs. There are lots of miscellaneous paperbacks in them.

 The other two bookcases have the ones I have sorted out into groups so they are easier to find.

If you live in the area, the Open House is today, 11:00 - 2:00, so stop in and take a look at the newly remodeled building. I can't be there as I had already scheduled a class.

 I am teaching the Circle and Spin quilt class to a private group. Should be lots of fun...I will try to take lots of pictures.