Happenings here!

I am trying to keep up with the BOW Woolie blocks from Primitive Gatherings...whew! I am pretty behind...I have about half of the stitching done, and most of the prepping done...and block nine will be here tomorrow! The bottom right block need lots more prepping done, but at least I am making headway, right?
Hey, I won something! Debi of www.debiquilts.blogspot.com had a giveaway of these wonderful charms...and I won a package! Wow, what a ton of fun fabrics! Thank you, Debi...my wheels are turning and I am figuring out what to make with these...thank you!!
The string quilt had just a little bit of border left over...well, maybe a lot left over! I cut off a little bit and made a different sort of mug mat, hand quilted it with big stitches...and called it good! Just another way for me to use every little bit of fabric I have left! I am making a larger one for the table too...

******************************Nurse's notes**********************


Guess what? The guy we defibrillated and got him back...three times? Sent me a big box of chocolate covered strawberries! Yum, yum!! Yes, I did share...in fact, only ate one of those...but, hey, I am on a diet anyway....so that was a bright spot in my day for sure!!


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Have a great day, all!!!


Julie

A four bobbin day!!

I actually sewed a lot yesterday! I usually just sew in the mornings, and then work on the house, etc in the afternoons on my days off from work, but yesterday....was different! I sewed and sewed and sewed! I finished putting together one of my oldest UFO's...this quilt! OK folks...I found out that working with really long, big blocks is hard! Hard to make all the seams match...I actually had to PIN something! Horrors!! Just joshing...I got it together and am so glad to have an empty project box, yahoo! The pink border is the width it is because that is all the fabric I had left. The problem with letting a project go this long is that the original fabrics for the project have disappeared or gotten used up...so the pink is different, and also the setting white is different. Oh well!!
And the final border is on, on the plaid string quilt along!!! I just love it....hey, does anyone know why when I cut the border plaid on grain, carefully...the plaids are crooked? I think this is a woven plaid, so it ought to follow the grain...this same fabric did the same thing in my first string plaid quilt too. Oh well...I like it so much anyway!!


Thank you all for joining me and encouraging me in this, my first quilt along...hope you all have fun with your strings!!!



Have a super day!

Julie

Borders on the plaid quilt along...

OK, so here is the state of the borders...this scrappy plaid border is on!! This border is more gray/brown tone than I like, but those are the scraps I had, so they all went in! I love those pops of bright colors, don't you?? Nine patches in the corner of the borders, too...those were fun. I have some plaid bright pink lame' (spelling?) in there...I have no idea where in the world I got that fabric, but it shows up in my scrap bins from time to time like an old friend!
So here is the border. In the original quilt, there are more borders, and I am thinking about that...of course, you can do whatever you want and stray where ever your mind takes you!! That is what I love about quilting...you can just do anything at all that pleases you! NO rules here!
Except for this rule...FINISH UP YOUR UFO"S, JULIE!!!! This is just a little self imposed rule that I pay little attention too, but I need to! Now, those of you who know me, you know I have quite a few UFO's...double digit numbers for sure...but this project above is one of the oldest. I have been taking a few minutes here and there and hand appliqueing all those Dresden plates down...and I am done! I just need to set the blocks together, and an old, old UFO will almost be done!!


***********************Health************************


I have had hyperthyroidism for a while now...but now my labs are much improved. When you are hyperthyroid, you can eat just about any dang thing you want to! I thought I was just being super good on my diet, but that is magical thinking, the thinking that you can have candy bars and junk food and still lose weight...it was fine when my thyroid was in hyper drive, but now?? I have gained a few pounds back! The party is over ladies! I am back on the diet bandwagon...not really a diet, but eating better and weight watching, and walking every day. I want to catch this before I gain a bunch of weight...not going to happen if I can help it! At my age, weight gain can happen quickly...so, a few of my dear friends and I have a little wager going...whoever can lose the biggest percent of body weight by Halloween gets the prize!! I am pretty competitive...and this is wonderful! Working great...a great motivator. I am please to see the scale sailing right back down again...and I am keeping on, keeping on!

Maybe you want to start a little friendly competition with your friends!!!


Have a super day!

Julie

Plaid quilt strings...the middle is all together!

Alrighty then!! Here is my finished middle...I like it! You may notice that I have made a few mistakes in the setting...and I am going to leave it. It really does not bother me at all...and will give someone in the future something to talk about. I set my string blocks together with nine patch cornerstones...you can set yours together any way you wish!!! I am loving this quilt...the cacophony of colors and plaids is so pleasing to me. Next? The borders!!!
I recently got to go with dear husband on one of his trips...and I saw this pretty fellow with his rack all in velvet...not too scared of me, and he had three of his deerest friends with him!! Hee!


Hope you are doing fantastic today!

Julie

Plaid string quilt along, part. next.!

Hi everyone! Above are my cornerstone pieces for the plaid string quilt along quilt...I tried to mix it up and have some dull and some bright pieces in each nine patch. You can set your string blocks side by side, or with plain sashing and cornerstones...but I love Evelyn Sloppy's original nine patch cornerstones, so I opted for this. Suit your own fancy! Now, I just need a day to set all the pieces and parts together! Hurrah!!
Yes, these are pressed...but the edges curl a little, on some of the homespuns. Some of these are printed plaids, most are woven, some tightly woven, some quite loose...and one of part of a plaid dishrag I have had for years...hey, it was plaid and was not used, so it worked just fine!
This is all the plaid strings I have left...don't know what the safety pin is doing in there! I am going to make the border out of these...and my rule for me is that I have to use everything. If I leave two or more strings...I swear they will breed in my sewing nook and I will have a whole bunch of plaid strings again to use up!! does this happen to you...LOL?!!!


I hope you are enjoying making your own quilt...thank you so much for all your encouragement!!





***********************Off the subject*************************


A lady really got my goat today. I brought a pair of shoes to be repaired, and paid big bucks for this to her. She was very curt to me when I dropped them off about a week ago, but hey, I thought, maybe she was having a bad day. I called today to see if the shoes where ready...and she was just downright nasty!! After about 10 minutes of being put on hold over and over, and she actually raising her voice to me...I had had it. I am going to vote with my feet and never go back there!! I just am so frustrated with people thinking that they can be rude to people who are paying their bills...customers!!! Do any of you have an opinion about this...or is it just me experiencing this in our world today??


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Have a great day!!





Julie

A very pretty quilt!!

At last! I have been trying to figure out how to get this picture from an e-mail to my blog!! Success!! Donna D, of Hemet California, sent and shared this gorgeous quilt...recognize the pattern, LOL?? Donna made her quilt from bright scrappy strings, and pretty nine patches. I love her quilt!!
Here is her border...so this all goes to show...you can do the great Plaid String quilt along...in other fabrics than plaids! I think a batic one would be just gorgeous!!! Thank you so much, Donna, for sharing your wonderful quilt!!


I am madly working on nine patches for my cornerstones, and will show some pictures later today.


Have a super day!!


Julie

Quilting along, and woolie blocks

OK, I got all the plaid string blocks completed, and worked on sashings today. I had precut some of the sashing fabrics, so that went faster than it could have. I am going to work on cornerstone blocks and borders next. But...the vacuum calls...the dust need to be removed, so no more sewing today!! I will not be able to post for a few days now...if you are quilting along, please enjoy!!
Here is where I am on the BOW wool blocks from Primitive Gatherings. I do love these blocks...all in various stages of construction. I am really trying to at least get the greens down when the block first comes in...then it is great fun to add the colorful flowers. all hand blanket stitched, a few minutes each evening...wonder how long it will take to get all this done, LOL!!!


Dear Jane is weighing on my mind...I must get back to her quilt, and soon!!!


Have a great week, all!!! I just want you all to know how wonderful it is to have gotten to know you...thank you so much for your friendship!


Julie

Plaid quilt along, part two! and a ton of other stuff!

Hi all you Friendlies out there!! Part two of the quilt along...just keep on making string plaid blocks!! Here is where I am...I have 14 more blocks to go to make the size quilt I want. How are you doing?? I find these block very fast to make, do you?? Fun, fun, fun!!! I am thinking about setting options and corner stones and borders...I often make part of the borders, etc, while I am making blocks. It goes so much faster if I don't have all the pieces and parts to sew in the end....less chance of a quilt becoming a UFO!!
I received a treasure in the mail....Lookie! Plaids! and purple...what could possible be better? Well, add orange hand quilting...and it is better!! Add a wonderful striped binding...whoohoo! thank you, Finn...so very much for this early Birthday gift. Finn owned her own quilt shop, and has a blog, and is the most wonderful scrappy quilter, and a wonderful friend. You can click here to see her creations.
I got this quilt back from the quilters...Starry, starry night. I love the density of the quilting, with stars of course...and have cut the binding. I am kind of daunted about sewing all that down...about 10 strips of binding.
And my plaid Jewel box came back too! I took a picture with very low light, so you could see the quilting...fabulous!!!
Here is the whole thing...my new favorite for sure. Believe it or not, I cannot find the binding I made for it, so will keep searching for a day of two...there are just not too many places it can be, now are there? Hmmmm....



ATTENTION PINK FABRIC DONATING PEOPLE!!!

Thank you so much, again, for all your generosity...you donated a ton of pink fabrics to a cancer survivor, who makes cancer quilts! Please see Sharon's blog here, and go down to her July 5th post...I think she loves what you all did...Thank you, thank you!!! Good for you!!




Have a great day, and I will try to make some more progress on our plaid string quilt along....how about you?


I have the coolest quilt picture sent by a friend...I will share it tomorrow...by then I will have figured out how to do it!!



Julie

Betsy's great celebration nine patch exchange hired man's quilt!!...something to note...and fabric too!

Guess what? I got an e-mail from Betsy Chutchian!! She is the author of the quilting pattern book "Gone to Texas". This is a great book, and one of the most interesting parts is that her Great, great grandmother's diary excerpts are included! I made the above quilt, based on her quilt, but mine is different...see below!!
This is a little piece of Betsy's quilt! The cross blocks are placed differently...Betsy noticed that mine was different, and so we wanted you to be aware. I love both versions!!
And guess what else? Betsy designs fabrics!! I recently bought her newest collection, from Lone Star House of Quilts. Now some of you may know, I hardly EVER buy collections, preferring to use up my scraps...but I could not resist these gorgeous fabrics!! You can get some too...www.lonestarhouseofquilts.com.


I have been working with my husband on the back fence, all this long weekend, in between work. It is quite, quite hot...we have been drinking water and Gatorade by the gallon!! I will be so happy to have a new back fence, we are putting in a cement curb and metal poles...it will last forever! (hopefully)...


I want to work on the plaid quilt!!! Hopefully I can squeeze some time out of this week to work on it...hey guess what? I got an e-mail from the PLAID QUILT DESIGNER!!!! I had emailed Evelyn Sloppy and asked if it was OK to do a quilt along, based on her pattern...and she said yes!! She will follow along with us...so I better get crackin' on that quilt!


Y'all have a great day!



Julie

Plaid quilt along, part one!!!

HI Y'all! I may not have time to post for the next few days, so wanted to post what I have been up to on the quilt along!! This is so much fun to sew along with all of you! As you gather your plaids and decide on block size and foundations (or no foundation!), here are some of my blocks I made in about 2.5 hours this morning. A pretty eclectic mix of colors...no matchy/matchy here!!! I like the contrast between the bright/pretty colors and the dull/drab colors...fun!
I know that you have seen a ton of tutorials about how to string piece, but here is what I do. Lots of different methods are out there, so pick your favorite! By the way? any strings will do if you are not a plaid fan! I start by putting a strip on the foundation in the middle...
Then place another string right sides together and sew it up! You don't have to be terribly precise...just sew it on!
Then press the piece you just sewed on out...I will tell you a secret if you don't tell anyone...I only finger press. I just don't have time to run to the laundry room and press each strip, then back to the kitchen to sew, back and forth...nope! I like to use what time I have to just go for it, LOL!
Fill up your entire foundation with strips, like this, and roughly trim off the big strips left...now is when I press it all down flat with best press or starch.
Then carefully trim to the size you want your block to be. This is the time to be careful and cut carefully...ask me how I know, LOL!!
I always have some little pieces leftover that were trimmed off...the biggest I use to fill in the corners on the next string blocks...if the pieces are under 1.5 inches...they go to the garbage, or for filling pillows or something... It has to stop somewhere, right??
So here are my blocks are about 2.5 hours later...tada!!! I am going to make 48 blocks like this...so hey, I am 25% done with the blocks already! How fast and down and dirty is that!!!



Have a great day all!!!! I will post again in a few days with my progress, and hopefully we can figure out a way to share pictures of everyone's quilts!!







Julie