Trees! grow crooked in my little forest...

Hi Y'all! Here is the state of the Crabapple tree quilt...Ok, I need to tell you if you are making this quilt and paper piecing? Sew further than the lines are printed...so the blocks hold better and don't stretch when you are putting them together. That is what I experienced, resulting in blocks a shade bigger than the sashing...so I am having to resew some and ease others. I like the way it is shaping up, but this quilt is not the flattest quilt I have ever sewn! I do really like it though, I think the pattern is just charming! I have a friend who is sending some blocks...and I am ready to sash them right in! Then the pattern calls for a pieced border of one inch finished squares...so I am so delighted to be able to piece that...should be fun!!
I came home from work and was sitting on the floor (Yes, shoes come off immediately after being on my feet all day)...and Rosie Posie Pudding Pie, the poodle...just needed some tummy love! She falls over on her back whenever she needs some tummy rubbing...she is a darling! I am the cross legged one in the turquise nursing scrubs.
Finnie! My friend Finn at www.finnleah.blogspot.com sent me some more 1.5 inch squares...thank you so much, they will be used immediately for the border, Finnie! thank you so much for thinking of me...such pretty fabrics too!


Well, the Texas Rangers lost the world series quite handily...maybe next time, guys! I am not a huge fan, but since they are right down the road, may as well have rooted for them.

Off to finish cleaning for company tomorrow. I had the carpets cleaned Saturday...and they are still damp. Hmmmmm....I have the ceiling fans going full blast.



Have a wonderful day, all!!!

JulieK

Can't see the forest for the trees!!!

Here is where I am at in the process...the second quilt from the Leaders and Enders book by Bonnie Hunter. I think a blog friend is sending me some blocks...so I am holding on for those...how fun to include blocks from a friend! All the setting fabric is from the stash...I already had cut the sashing for another project that never came to fruition, so that was great! I do not have enough of these little squares for the border...will I have to (perish the thought)...actually have to cut some? I have been trying to empty my scrap drawers as some of you know.I like the combination of green, red and gold...looks kind of like Holland a little to me.
I put this picture in too...following the book so I don't get lost in the placement! Good idea for me...


Have a great day!


Julie

At last a breather!!

I found this pattern in the Nov/Dec issue of McCall's quilting...I like this idea for my nine patches! It is a definite possibility...I like the play of medium and light fabric. Pretty!! I find that I buy quilt magazines and usually find about one project per magazine that I love.
These 1.5 inch squares are part of a recent swap I was fortunate enough to take part in....so you know what that means??
I can make more of these blocks!! Yippee! I have almost all the tree bases paper pieced, and that is just fun. The fact that I have them done is fun...not the paper piecing necessarily... I find I waste a ton of fabric while paper piecing...do you? How can I get better at this??


These blocks are part of Cheryl's quilt along...I love these autumn colors! I am considering how to set them...probably different from anyone else...now that's no surprise, I am sure, to anyone!!


I have been working a lot, and back to it again tomorrow...hardly a chance to breath! So on to the rest of the housekeeping and laundry, so I can be ready for this busy week.

Julie

Plugging away until I finally get it done!!!

And....the top is a top! Altogether now, I mean! I feel a particular triumph about getting a huge quilt top in one piece...do you? Just a moment of satisfaction, of wow, I did it!! Over 2200 pieces in this quilt top, almost every two inch square I have ever cut and saved is in here, saved over many, many years. I am delighted!! My living room (oh, I mean design floor) is almost too small to show this one...king sized, I think...around 100x108 inches. Is that queen sized,maybe? Anyway, big for me.
Keep in mind, any threads you see are imaginary...do you know what quilt I am making out of the 1.5 inch scrap box?? It's what's cookin'! and a surprise!
Heartstrings helpers updates...I donated this top to Heartstrings...it is in the mail. Also, I sent
this gorgeous quilt that Lyn of Bluebird quilts made for Heartstrings...and below,

this quilt that Lyn made also! I kept hanging on to them, hoping I would finish another top and send it, but I think I just need to pass these all on to Mary, so the quilts can get to who needs them most.


****************Nursing Notes**********************

The big meeting about work finally came...and I will have a job. That is good! I just have to decide whether I will continue to be a heart nurse, or be a med/surg ICU nurse. I want those heart patients...but we will just have to see what happens and which way the wind blows. More questions than answers arose in the meeting...administration is playing it close to the chest about benefits and stuff with the new Heart venture...so we are all waiting and seeing!!!

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Everyone...hope you have a most wonderful week!!


Julie

Excitement!

The family that lived in our home before us left behind a large washtub, so I plant something in the tub each spring. This year, I planted coleus...and it has now really gotten big! I usually trim it back, but with the first frost it will be gone, so I am just kind of letting it go...pretty!
Here is a fall time treat for me...in our back yard, these lovely flowers are still hanging on! My husband trimmed them back pretty severely, and that seemed to really help them. It was fun to go out and discover their lovely blooms!
Close up...


*******************************and the excitement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so delighted and grateful that all the miners were pulled out OK, from the earth, in Chile...so happy for their families!!!


And, I heard from a couple people that they got their nine patches~! I am so happy about that...yahoo!


And the winner of the Fall into Fall giveaway! by random draw...is Amelia! Please send me your address and I will send you your gift!

I am off to work, now....



Julie

Scrappy Happy Irish Chain!

1800's reproductions...1930's prints...batics...plaids...solids...every print imaginable...and even a few precious squares that my mother cut with pinking shears in the 1960's....it is all in here! Every two inch square I own is in this quilt...12 squares were left over, and they will go back into the 2 inch bin, and I will collect them again! This is one humongous quilt, ladies...and I have a bunch of blocks left over...should I make the quilt super huge, or make another quilt altogether?

Leftover blocks.....about two dozen left over.
A couple in our neighborhood was having a garage sale this past Friday....and we walked by...and I spied plaid shirts! These are all size XL...he apparently had gone on a diet and lost weight, and was selling his shirts. 50 cents each...now really, who could resist that??



((((((((((((((((((((((((((Things on my mind)))))))))))))))))))))))))


I am watching the Chilean miners getting rescued on the news....I was tearful and so anxious about them getting out alive last night, I can just imagine how their families feel! I can just imagine my dear husband or son down there...crazy-making for sure!!! I am praying for them all to get out just fine...and wouldn't it be unnerving to be the very last one out??



Have a great day!!

Julie

Take me to your leader! and ender...

Well, this is not much of a picture...but that is where I am at! In the process of making scrappy Irish Chain blocks...It started out as a leader and ender project, but quickly turned out to be the main event! So, I am making one billion little squares into blocks. Fun! The blue strips behind the bunch of squares is the beginning of my Blue Ridge Beauty quilt, so that one is next up!! Maybe that is...I am fickle...to my own planning!!
The last of the nine patches for the swap arrived Saturday night...so I quickly divided them up into the packages, and then realized...the post office is closed on Sunday. So today, I scurried over to the post office...which was closed for Columbus day! Except the self serve center...so I sent out tons of nine patches today! Please look for my e-mail if you are a swapper and let me know if you have any problems whatsoever! I am hoping for Joy for everyone!!


Have a nice day, y'all!! You know, I am not a Texan...but I talk like one now! Wow, who knew??


Julie