Charity quilts done

The mice are gone.  I remembered an old time remedy for getting rid of mice and tried it.  Peppermint.  I wrote about it on my hints blog.  I'm not sure if the peppermint or the lye and peanut butter mixture got rid of them.  Either way, I'm sure glad they are gone.   Actually, it should be peppermint oil but this is all I had at the time.

The six charity quilts are finished. 

Made from clothing.

Quilted with the circle lord baptist fan template.

Just a little bigger than lap sized.

Should be good for sitting in a wheel chair.

Now I'll wash to soften them up and get them wrapped.

I've been writing some posts on my helpful hints blog about the STUFF in my life.  If you don't see a post on here for a few days, check over there.  The link is on my side bar or here.  I'm starting my 2011 organizing a little early and talking about how my house accumulates so much. 

 

Backwards piecing

Ladybug is not quite awake yet so I'm posting a quick note to say that I put some backwards piecing directions on my helpful hints blog early this morning. Mommie spent the night with a friend and I was able to get to the computer. Whew, writing step by step piecing directions and putting all the pictures on a blog is time consuming!

This was the inspiration for the backwards piecing.

I'll have to put the pictures of the current finished quilt on the blog a little later.... if I get the chance. Maybe when Ladybug takes a nap.

My computer is back!

It seems like forever since my computer was here. I did get a lot accomplished when I couldn't sit at the computer for a few hours each day. So what did I do?

Well, I finished putting together the bottom half of my cardboard desk. I've been putting the base coats of paint on them. Actually 3 coats on the cabinet part and I just started painting the drawers. There's no hurry on getting this finished though. When these are finished I'll make the flat part for the desk and a cabinet to set above that. I'm making the desk in pieces so I can rearrange the parts to create a different look when the mood strikes me.



I got started on the roses from the drawing I showed several days ago. I'm making 6 because I want to work in a series for my art trials. I finished turning the edges on all the pieces.

Then started putting them together. Yes, there are some pretty wild color combinations in these roses. That's ok though. They don't have to look like "real" roses. It's fun to make them funky and crazy. That way there's no stress if something doesn't quite look right as often happens when I try to create realistic. These are only for testing ideas I have and don't need to make anyone happy but myself.

I also pieced this little charity quilt. It's done in what I call "Ten to What" (10 to ?) piecing. It's done backwards. Backwards?? Yes, it starts with a square or squares of fabric. The fabric squares are cut and sewed back together in reverse order until a pieced square is created. I do several designs in reverse order. It helps me be more accurate because I'm not working with teeny tiny cut pieces. The instructions for this one is going onto my helpful hints blog in the next few days. This one actually took me about 6 hours to complete because I kept stopping to be sure I pressed correctly. Pressing is a very important step in backward piecing.

I have a clothing memory quilt to create. The clothing came in today. This person was killed by a drunk driver. These are the three most important pieces for the quilt. The receiving blanket from when he was born, some pieces of the clothing he was wearing when he died, and the shirt his mother was wearing when she held him as he slipped away. I absolutely enjoy creating memory quilts. I feel as if an angel is whispering in my ear when I make a memory quilt.

Ladybug has gotten very independent lately. She doesn't want to sit in a booster chair anymore. She would rather sit at her own table. Of course she is always wanting Na Na to "comeona" and play with her.

Oh! How cute! This is sort of a great-grandchild. This baby's grandma was one of the kids I took care of for weeks at a time as a foster parent. When grandma grew up and had babies, I became the baby sitter when she was stressed. Now that child has had a baby. Wow, time sure does fly by. The baby's name? I can't pronounce it or spell it. I call her Gertie for short. Why are the baby names so difficult these days? What's wrong with John or Mary? Something simple and easy. Isn't that smile adorable.

I finished stitching the roses and took it off the machine. I still have to put it back on the machine and quilt the background. I had to put a customer quilt on the machine for awhile. It's finished but I'll show pictures of that tomorrow.

When I took this off the machine I discovered I liked the stitching on the back much better. It has the ghost look I really wanted for the front. This one looks ok but....

This one looks even better.

So does this one.

Well, now that I know how to do the ghost images, another one is in the planning stages.

Hmm... come to think about it, I may not be able to get back onto the computer again until Monday. We are getting snow tonight and tomorrow. Not as much snow as people are getting in other areas but enough to keep everybody here at home a couple of days. This means that Ladybug and Mommie won't be going to visit the cousins. I can't get much done on the computer when Ladybug wants my attention so often. I sure hope by some accident we don't loose power like we did a year ago in January. The weather people say its only going to be snow but you know how well weather people predict. If they say we won't get much.... we get a lot. If they say we are going to get a lot.... we get nothing.

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Wow, it feels good to be able to post again! Thank you to everyone for waiting until I could get back on line.