Another Attempt

Computers have not been my best friend lately so yesterday with all the "issues" (I hate "issues"!) I was having posting I just had to step away. Earlier this morning I was having more issues...finally I walked away from the PC which is in The Ark, and went to the Mac in the bedroom. I think the PC is destined to just be a slave for my Bernina software and not live online anymore. And I see a MacPro in my future! Yippee!
Let's try to post a couple more pictures...

Aaahhhhh, Blogger's not being quite as rude this morning! The block above is one of 10 in Piece O' Cake's "Walk in the Mountains" pattern. I started it in 1998 when we lived in Ohio and had visited Lancaster, PA for the Quilt Extravaganza. It's all needle turn appliqué and a little embroidery with many, many tiny pieces...maybe that's why after I finished the first 2 blocks it sat languishing in the hidden spots in The Ark's Closet! All the pieces fortunately found their way through moves to Florida, Oregon and finally made it here to California. Here's how it looks now...

I started the final block yesterday and then it'll be ready for the pieced border. Upward and onward to getting another UFO DONE!


Back to Stitchin' for My Soul (much happier activity!),
Nadine

A New Adventure and Another UFO DONE!

     Soooooooo......entranced by Crazy Quilting...I've loved it for a long time, gazed longingly at any Crazy Quilt I've ever seen, taken a class or 2, played around a bit, and made a CQ Vest years ago. Recently I came across a blog featuring the work of a gal in Australia, Sharron Boggon, www.pintangle.com/ . This is her last year teaching classes online so I jumped at the opportunity to learn from this master. Her work is simply incredible! When you see a block of hers you want to just keep looking and looking at all that's presented.....Like when you walk into a wonderful quilt shop and just stand in the doorway totally and wonderfully overwhelmed by all you see from that one spot!

     The class is 6 weeks long and I just completed week 1 of making the foundational block. I pulled apart a vest kit I had purchased a zillion years ago and began to flip and sew pieces together, adding some lace here and there. It's really strange to work in PINK! I'm not at all a real "pink" person, nor am I a phoo-phoo person...I tend to lean to a simple tailored fashion style avoiding gobbly gook. (So much so that when I needed a "mother of the wedding" dress when our daughter got married, I asked if the clerk had anything in "Elegant Denim" because I didn't want to wear "Old Lady Lace"!)

     So here I am starting something new, feeling excited about all the stuff and bling that I'll be playing with and also feeling a little overwhelmed at the same time. I'll keep you posted on this new journey.



 



 

     Meanwhile, back at the ranch...Boyfriend, aka Papa Toad, is making great progress with his broken leg. I no longer have to shadow him with his walker because he's more trustworthy using it now...except when he hops into our walk in shower. Then it's rubber mat, shelf liners on the tile, shower chair etc...and yes, I get a shower too! It'll be 4 weeks this Wednesday since he overzealously went for that tennis shot and on Thursday he'll see the Orthopedic dude again. When he saw him 2 weeks ago the Dr. thought he might be able to start weight bearing soon. We're hoping "soon" will mean this week!

     I've gotten another UFO finished! This is a 50x50" wall hanging that I made in 1999 that was just waiting to be quilted and bound. "Cabin in the Woods" I believe was in a magazine...maybe American Patchwork and Quilting (?). Amazing how tops can just hang marinading in closets until I make up my mind to just get them DONE! I'm sure some of you can relate!!!



 

 

 I was going to show y'all a couple more pictures but it seems that BlogSpot is acting rude again so I'll get this post up and try again in a few minutes. Why, oh why, do computers sometimes become so rude????

 

Nadine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You did What???

It was last Wednesday 9:30 a.m...Mom and I had gone for our haircuts...and Suzie had just started to cut Mom's hair...and then I get a call from my boyfriend, aka as Hubby Papa Toad...."I think I hurt myself..." Long story short: while playing tennis and running full boar to get a shot he slammed himself into a steel bench and broke his femur right below his hip. Sooooo, he had surgery to get some hardware installed so now he can test airport security alarm systems. He (We!) finally got to come home from his hospital visit Saturday afternoon. Whew! So my planned stay at home quilting retreat to join my Stashbuster buddies quickly became a stay at home retreat playing with a walker, wheelchair, physical therapy exercises and other personal care items (use your imagination!)
It is now Monday. Our weekend: He and I managed to get him into the house (a huge WHEW!), tried the bed to sleep and then figured out his lounge chair worked best. Each day will get easier...Aaah, the adventures of Life!
Meanwhile I did finish a Valentine's Day quilt. It was a kit from The Pincushion in Davis, CA. For many years they have vendored at many shows and always have really luscious fat quarter packs of 8 called "Sweet Treats". This pattern is called "Easy Peasy" (53 x 65") and the "Sweet Treat" pack that I chose was yummy.

 

I also finished the last 2 BOM of Kathy Schmitz's embroidered seasonal set. These were really fun with a combination of embroidery and piecing. For January:

 

 

A Valentine for February:

 

All ready for March Winds:

 

The rest of the year's BOM are finished and ready to display. Here's some leftover blocks from a quilt that has rail fence blocks. The larger quilt has these blocks set on the diagonal. It's waiting to be quilted. The leftovers became a Table Topper.

 

Yay! Another few UFO finishes for 2014! Now on to finishing an appliqué block for the month... I'm sure I'll be having plenty of stay at home time since Papa Toad can't do any wt. bearing for  at least 4-6 wks!!! Oh, but wait....we get to go to the orthopedic dude in 10 days to get his staples out.....an Outing!

Meanwhile, enjoy your Stitchin' for the Soul!

Nadine

Do I remember? Maybe!

Good Golly Miss Molly! Looks like I haven't been here for almost a year! Posting....I don't seem to be doing a very good job at this blog stuff. But I will make the attempt...once again! I have a specific purpose this year. I've been following Stashbusters on Yahoo for awhile now and right before Christmas I decided to stop lurking in the closet and join a group (or 2 or 3!) because listening, or rather reading, about these lovely ladies was interesting....who lived in what state,country, what issues they were having with what quilts, who was snowed in and getting a lot done, etc....girlie chit chatter. It became amusing, thought provoking and helpful. Then I read about a few challenges....and there it was: UFO Challenge for 2014! Ok, I got hooked! Sounded like fun to report to a group rather than just my little Journal of my personal Yahoo Finishes for 2013.
I joined and now my race was on...I had to turn in a count of my UFOs, send 2 FQs and a $1 that would go to a year end winner. I did it! I found 21 UFOs hanging in my closet, hiding in baskets and buried elsewhere....hopefully I looked deep enough so I don't find any more! I also did an accounting of my WIPs...things that I was actively engaged in....ELEVEN! Ai Yi Yi! And now you know why I chose "Carpe diem and Focus" as my theme for 2014...
For my first UFO to finish I chose what I think is my oldest. Before we left California in 1997 I was involved in a small quilting group that gathered together I think every Wednesday or maybe it was every other week. I think there were 6-8 of us and 1 was Tina Gully, a sweet sweet lady who rescued quilts from basements, attics, garage sales, thrift shops everywhere. She told how she would take a stained quilt outside, spray it down and leave it topside down on the grass under a shade tree and Voila, the chlorophyll from the grass would safely remove any stains but not bleach any colors. She also loved Pineapple Quilts and taught a class I took using an Eleanor Burns book. I decided to make a Gi-normus one because the technique was fun and precise. As a result I ended up with a zillion (maybe it was only a million)  blocks...3 values of purple (must've been in my pre-1995 purple phase) with red as my accent color. Finished the zillion and realized in a more sane moment that I didn't want any purple toned quilt on my king sized bed. What had I been thinking? Flash forward a few years and another Finish UFOs Moment...I took a large portion and made a twin size quilt, grabbed 18 more and made two 9 block table toppers and had 4 left that I pieced into this table runner that never got quilted until this last weekend. Aaaaah, the first finish (19 x 49") "Done Done" for 2014!

 

And it feels good! I'm in the race for real! Now to get the next UFO finished....and to start the Trail Mix Challenge Group.....and Shakespeare in the Park Group.....

Sending y'all in the East some warm Western wind to warm you up while I go do some more "Stitchin' for my Soul!"

 

 

Nadine