A Few Little Projects

This was a surprise.  Long story short...one of our 'adopted daughters from WI' for married this weekend.  We weren't able to go to the wedding because we already had a trip to Cassie's planned.  And the wedding was on a Thursday and we couldn't up and leave Wammyville high and dry for two days.  So instead I made a little something that they could use under the Unity Candle.  I hope to have pictures at a later date.  As soon as they get back from their honeymoon!

Last week Betsy and I made a little JoAnn's run.  Their fleece usually $12.49 a yard was marked down to a little over $2 a yard.  I found this for my sister.  She loves weiner dogs and I figure that she can use it when Lyla Jean comes for a visit.

Robin and I On A Mission

I went home last weekend on a mission.  To 'plant' some of our parent's ashes in the yard of the house that they built with their own two hands and my grandfather's crowbar and they house my sister and I lived in until we got married.  We became friends on Facebook with the family that lives there now.  Such a sweet family.  We asked permission and they said it would be fine.  They jsut had their first baby so I made a few receiving blankets to give them.  I thought it was the least that I could do.

Found A Cute Craft For October

Betsy and I are trying tog et a group of ladies from MWBC together to do a simple craft sometime next month.  We thought we would start with this one.

I dug around in the basement in the stash and found a pretty good size of flannel and some green cotton.  So simple.  Don't tell MArk but it is made out of a roll of toilet paper.

I gave Bets some fabric and she made one at home.  Took all of 5 minutes.

Take That Kroger

Kroger will be doing away with their brown plastic grocery bags...2015 I think. I use them for lots of things around here.  I will be in a bind for sure when they are gone.  But I have a great village of people that have been sending their extras so I won't run out anytime soon.  But when I do I will at least have bags for carting groceries home.

I knew all those feed sacks would come in handy someday.

All farm animals are represented.  Goats.

Chickens

More chickens.

dogs

  I had a rabbit but I gave it to someone.

And they all store in my bird seed bag.

Now if we can just remember to get them out of the way back everytime!

Sewing With Bets

The Memory Quilt is finished!. We think it turned out really nice.  Betsy will deliver it to Preschool/Day Care soon.

While digging through her bag she found something that she had forgotten about.

I finished up a few receiving blankets.  Keeping the grandmother tradition going.

Looks Like We Are Beginning Something

Collaboration Night

What A Great Helper

You jsut never know what Stitch is going to do.  Today she helped me tie a quilt.

She was like a huge paperweight.  Her job was to hold it together.

She did a great job.

Finally Finishing Steve's Quilt

This HUGE quilt has given me many sleepless nights! I think I have been working on it off and one for two years. Steve has been very patient with me. Life just got in the way with this one. And there were lots of issues to work out. We had to check and recheck to see if I have then squares in the right places. Some of them didn't fit right so we had to figure out Plan B.  If Betsy hadn't been here as a cheerleader, a thinker, and a helper I don't know if it would have ever gotten finished.

The last few things to do...trim the batting.

Cut the backing to size.

Fold over and press the binding.

Pin the binding.

Sew the binding on.

And here she is...the LARGEST t-shirt quilt I have ever made.  

We even had a little time to repair a quilt for Bety's sister.

Now on to the next project.......

Yes, Yes, Yes

I'm Calling This The 6 Hour Quilt

We have been waiting to hear if Emmy got her Visa to travel to Brazil to see Andrea and her family.  Finally, she got a yes from the powers that be and I was off to the races.  Mark took me to JoAnn's and I was going to make a simple, soft, orange and black (AHS) fleece throw.  But then Emmy reminded me that they live on the equator.

So instead I picked up a jelly roll and a yard and a half of blue for the backing.  I am calling this the 6 Hour Quilt because it took me exactly 6 hours from start to finish.  I was totally amazed.  So it is packed in Emmy's luggage and making it's way to Davi as we speak.  I hope he likes it.

Progress

I had to get permission to use some floor space at the church on Wednesday night because I have no space large enough to lay out this monster to pin it.

Betsy and I packed our bags and hit the road running.  We got to church around 5:30pm.  About the same time that the weather was doing havoc with electric all over Milford.

We laid the top out on the backing o see if we figured the amount right.  Check!  Sign of relief.  Then we had to spray glue the batting together int one large piece.

We worked and smoothed out all the wrinkles before we could pin.

And then we ran into this mess!

We pinned over 1,000 safety pins into the sashing of the quilt.  It only too us close to three hours.  And some of our fingers might not be the same.  Thank you, Brittany, for staying long enough for us to get it finished.

The long road that will be stitched in the ditch around every square.

Next project is to trim the batting even with the quilt top.  then we need to make sure that we have a two-inch backing strip around the entire quilt.  I plan to bind it like the Amish do.  We are taking a rest week this coming week because both of us have things that we must get accomplished next week.  I may take us awhile to quilt this baby.

It's Wednesday, We Must Be Quilting

This phase of putting this beast together is just about complete.  We are putting on the borders!

I cut the 2 1/2 inch strips, sewed them together, and pressed them.  Betsy pinned then on the quilt top.  Checking each seam as we went.  Good thing...we found a few that needed a little extra TLC.

The top is so big that it pulls to the left making it a bit of a challenge to sew a straight 1/4 inch seam.  But sure-handed Bets was there to help guide it through.

On monster of a quilt top finished!!!!

If our calculations are correct the finished quilt will be 104" x 119".

This is what it looks like on our king-sized bed.

Next Wednesday we will be making a trip to the fabric store to buy the backing.  I don't trust myself to buy the right amount of fabric...I get really nervous thinking I won't have enough for piecing the back or I will buy way too much.  So we are going to let the experts tell us how much we need.

We Can Almost See The Light At The End Of The Tunnel

The precise pinning by Betsy begins.  Each row needs a sashing.  The first one is the easiest one but it set up the line for the rest.  You pin, look, look again, eye it up, and pin again another 5 times in each of the 56 squares.  Takes lots of time and patience.

I sew a 1/4 inch seam along the edge of each sashing the width of the quilt.

I trim, iron and look for mistakes.

If I find anything wrong, Betsy picks it out, repins it and I then re-sew it and re press it.  And of course, check it again.  Then I hand it off to Betsy and she checks it again.

Pressing the sashing seams toward the black.

Pinning the last row!!!!

The quilt top is almost finished.  We measured and I am going to take it up to our king size bed to see how it fits.  We are trying to figure out if we should use a 2-inch or 4-inch border all the way around.  Right now it measures 96 X 111, roughly.

It Is Starting To Look Like A Quilt Top

Tonight we are getting so close to having the top finished.  The 2.w5 inch sashings between the rows have to be cut.

Then sewn together.

Always pressing the seams open.

Lots of pinning goes on.  Betsy pinned.

I carefully sewed.  Then I checked to make sure that there were no places that weren't sewn.  Then Betsy double checked my work.

And folks, we almost have a quilt top.  Next Wednesday night we will pin the rows together, sew them together, inspect them twice, and then we move on to the next step...layering the backing, batting and the top.  safety pinning all of that together and then finally quilting and binding.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!