Hot hot hot

I've been staying busy indoors to beat the heat.  Even with air conditioning the studio gets pretty hot in the afternoon.  I finished this quilt. 

I put a feather design on the outside and the inside border.  A leaf design on the setting triangles and line dancing on the pieced squares.

I did a cute line danced butterfly on the inside blocks.

Here's another look at the quilting.

Then I finished this small quilt too.  I couldn't do much to it because whatever I did would distract from the design.  I did simple stitch in the ditch around everything. 

A look from the back.

Now....... I have my own quilt on the machine and some of the quilting done.

Except for working on these quilts, and a couple of sewing repair projects, I've not done much the last few days.  My house gets way too hot in the afternoon to work.  I could crank up the air conditioner but that would also create a much higher utility bill. 

Fair time is coming up very fast.  Or at least it seems that way to me.  I want to finish this quilt and my SILs quilt this week if I can.  I'm not sure if I will get the third quilt done or not.  Gonna try finishing it.... only if it doesn't cause me to start to stress. 

AWOL

Sorry to have been AWOL for so long.  I've been really busy working on a ME project but first here is a customer quilt finished.

A nice Christmas quilt done.  

Simple stitch in the ditch around the characters and the words.

Simple lines on the sashing.

Holly leaves on the inside border.

Lines inside the holly leaf applique.

Stars on the inside border and holly leaves on the outside border.

More holly leaves on the inside border.

Ok, this is what has kept me away from the computer the last few days.  It's my fair entry for this year.  The piecing is finished but I have another customer quilt to get finished before I can quilt this one. 

Along with this quilt I have two more to have finished in two weeks.  One hasn't been started yet.  It's another one of mine.  The other is my SIL's quilt she started a year ago and just finished piecing last week.

I'll share photos when I finish the quilting.

Another one done

 I have a finished quilt to show.  The owner wanted minimal quilting. 

I did line dancing on the pieced area and a kind of leaf design along the inside border.  The inside border itself didn't get any quilting. 

I did a similar leaf design on the outside border. 

Here's a look from the back.

I was taking a morning walk around my yard, picking up paper mushrooms, when I noticed my kale plants needed a haircut and the tomato plants needed tieing to the fence.   I did the tieing first then got my sissors. 

I got two grocery bags full of kale.  Some are for dinner and some will be put in the freezer.



It's really nice to be able to work on quilts of my own for a change.  I started a wall hanging as my fair entry this year.  These were some scraps I had and couldn't figure out what to do with them.  Now the pieces have a purpose. 

If I finish in time for the fair.... fine.  If I don't.... that's fine too.  I will simply have fun with the creation.  I'll show photos as I get more done.

Tornado night

I finished this quilt not long before I got the crap scared out of me.  I'll tell you about that in a minute.  This quilt barely fit on the machine.  I get a lot of these. 

I did a leaf and curl design on the outside border and a swag on the inside border.

Circle lord fan on the center pieced area.

I wrapped the backing over the front for the binding.

Ok, about getting the crap scared out of me.  The grass was cut yesterday which made the weeds in my flower box look even worse.  After finishing this quilt I went outside to pull weeds from my front flower box so it would look nicer.  The Morning Glory vines are coming up nicely but were competing for space with the weeds. 

When I finished that chore, I heard the emergency warning sirens start to sound.  What's going on?  The skys are clear with just a bit of clouding.  I'm thinking it must be another factory explosion or something.  I turn on the tv and there was the weather guy saying a tornado is on the ground headed for Shively.....not a potential tornado but actual "on the ground" tornado..... headed right toward my daughter's house.  She lives in Shively.  PANIC!! 

I get on the phone to call my daughter because I know she doesn't have the tv on until later and she can barely hear the sirens.  Answering machine picks up.  Call again.  Answering machine picks up.  Call again.  Answering machine picks up.  I'm really getting frantic when she answers the phone. I tell her to get to the basement..... RIGHT NOW!  She turns off the stove and runs to the basement where Ladybug is already.  It's her play area when Mommie is cooking supper.

I keep my daughter on the phone while I listen to the news.  Then my tv goes blank.  It has the EAS (Emergency Alert System) light on but there is no sound and no words flashing across the screen.  Nothing but blank.  Now what good is an EAS system that doesn't do anything? 

I continue to talk to my daughter who tells me she doesn't hear anything and there's sunshine coming through the basement windows.  For several minutes neither of us know what is going on.  The sirens stop sounding and the tv comes back on.  The weather guy says the tornado is right near the street where my daughter lives and it's on the ground.  Then it starts to grow dark at her house with lots of rain.  After about half an hour of on again, off again, news and blank tv it's finally safe for them to leave the basement.

A few minutes after telling my daughter to get to the basement this is what I got at my house.  She  had the same thing there.  The is right around 7:30 in the evening.  It usually doesn't get fully dark here until about 9:30 at this time of year.

It is not a problem with the camera.  It really was that dark outside.

We had that stuff off and on until about midnight.  My daughter and Ladybug went to bed but I stayed awake to watch weather reports and would call her if she needed to get into the basement again.  Luckily we were ok the rest of the night. 

What I really want to know is why the EAS didn't work on the tv?  I do know the city has had problems with the system for a couple of months.  I'm going to call the city hot line to complain.  Or at least let them know I had problems here. 

Whew!  It scared me to write about it.  I heard we are expecting storms again later today.  With a possibility of the same thing we had yesterday.  You think I should go buy some depends.... just in case? 

I'm back

My apologies for being absent so long.  A series of events have prevented me from posting for awhile.  The problems with the internet of course.  Then a quilt top I wanted to have finished for Father's Day.  Next was a day or two of typing answers to interview questions for an online newsletter.  I didn't realize how much time it would take to type answers to few questions.  I struggle with my grammar, spelling, and punctuation.  Then along came a bought with poison ivy.  I'm still itching from that.  I've been looking all around the neighborhood for Jewel weed (Touch me nots) and can't find any.  I've been using a baking soda paste since I can't find those flowers.  Anyone know where I can get some seeds?  I want to plant some in my back yard. 

 Oh yes, there was one day when I did something I haven't done in about 25 years and it felt wonderful!  It was just one small step in my journey back to a simpler life.  I went to see a Broadway musical with my daughter and Ladybug.  The last time I went to a musical was when my daughter was not much older than Ladybug is right now.  Why did I stop going?  Well, quilting commitments took up all my time. 

We went to see Shreck at the Kentucky Center for the Arts.  On a weekday night.  Even Ladybug really loved it.  When she is taken to see a movie she usually falls asleep half way through it.  She didn't do that with the musical though.  When it was over she asked if we could go back in and watch it again.  

She also enjoyed looking at the art hanging around the center.   Oh my goodness, the show was great!  It also brought back so many memories of the life I had before quilting commitments.  It was only one small step but that step is going in the right direction.  We are actually closer to the stage than the photo appears. 

Here is Ladybug trying to read the information about the actors.  No, I don't think she can read but she sure was intent on looking at it.  Maybe she's keeping a secret?  Can she read?  No, I don't think she can read yet but she has discovered the letters she practices writing can be found everywhere. 

Ok, on to some quilting stuff.  I finished this quilt.  It came out really squared. 

I used a dark thread to quilt a design on the plain blocks then went back with a matching thread to quilt around the design with meandering.

I did slightly wavy lines on the pieced blocks. 

I did a leaf and curl design on the setting triangles.  With a matching thread.  It gave texture without overwhelming the top design. 

I did a swag design on the inside border and a leaf vine design on the outside border.  I did the binding by machine. 

Here is a look at the back.

Ok, the quilting design is not much different than any other quilt I do regularly.  What was so time consuming about this one?  Well, the borders were much smaller than the top.  See how the border curves compared to the center area?   It was also an on point setting top which means more fullness to be worked into the quilting design.   Quilt tops like this take much more concentration to get finished as squared. 

When I say squared it always sounds wrong.  The quilts are actually not square but rectangle.  I refer to squared because the sides come out even instead of one side larger than the other.  I'm writing some tutorial posts to put on my other blog that will show the steps for quilting tops like this one. 

I have another quilt I'm working on and hope to finish it today.

Six months to finish

This is not the quilt I had on the machine in my last post.  I got a call from the owner asking if this one would be ready by Friday so it could be shown this Sunday for the anniversary of the Community Ministries.  At first I said no it would not be finished.  I've been working with this person since before Christmas to get this one done.  Each time I called about something it would take him weeks to get back to me.  I refuse to be rushed at the last minute because someone is a procrastinator.  There was absolutely no reason for me to be under pressure to finish this one at the last minute. 

Then I thought about it.  If I don't finish it so he can use it this weekend..... how long would it take him to pick it up and pay me?   With no incentive to pick it up, it might take months for him to come get it.  I don't want to be a storage facility keeping quilts.  So I took the one off the machine and put this one on to finish.

I pieced it weeks ago using blocks brought to me.  I got tired of waiting for him to pick up fabric for the sashing and the backing so I used some of mine.  It took a long time to get approval on it before I could do the quilting.  But he wanted to add something before the quilting was done.  This took more time to bring to me.  I will be very glad to see this one gone.

I did meandering on the blocks. 

Meandering is quick, easy, and would work on all the designs.

A quick feather design on the border.

A quick leaf design on the sashing.

A view from the back.

Another view from the back.

Quick binding done by machine and the hanging tabs..... it was done at last.  I wonder if he will actually pick it up by Friday?  If he doesn't it will be on him because he knows it's finished. 

Now where was I?

Sometimes its easy for me to loose track of what I've done and what I should be doing.  For several days, every time I wanted to get on the internet to answer emails or to write a post, this would happen.  I don't use anything electrical during a storm.   I think we are pretty darn lucky that we didn't have damage in this area like those who live in other states.  I see the reports on tv and my heart goes out to all of them. 

In between dodging storms, worrying about flooding, and dealing with my neighbor, I got a last minute ticket to ride the tour bus to Paducah.  It was a one day tour.  Someone couldn't go so the ticket was given to me.  Paducah was also dealing with flood and storm issues but our trip was somehow managed in between storms.  It was raining when we arrived, cleared up during the day, then started raining again as we left.

The flood issue was different.  The show was moved to different places around town.  Classes were held in a couple of churches, vendors were moved to different locations, and so forth.  This photo is inside the big white tent where normally there would be only vendors.  This year it held vendors plus the quilt show plus lots of people trying to get out of the morning rain.  The convention center where the show is usually held was completely under water.  It was very, very crowded in this tent so it was difficult to see the quilts.  It was also quite scary to me.  Why? 

Well, the big white tent was setting next to the flood wall.  I was told the flood water was at the very top of the wall.  I'm not sure but I believe the flood wall is about 30 feet high.  In a couple of places I could see a little water coming under the metal gates that connect the wall.   I kept thinking "what if the gates should fail?" so I got my behind away from there.  I can see the quilts another time.

Getting around to all the relocated vendor spots was difficult.  There was many more people riding the shuttle buses because of the distance to the locations.  It was an hour or more wait time for shuttles going to the farther spots or to get to class locations.  I did manage to finally meet a long time internet friend.  I've been trying to meet her in person at the Paducah show for several years.  I couldn't help but tease her a bit by not telling her my last name.  I simply said "I am Anita" then gave her a hint now and then in our conversation.  After about 4 or 5 dropped hints she finally had a look of recognition instead of a look of puzzlement.  I would loved to have stayed and visited with her a long time but with the shuttle situation as it was I had to leave.  It took me almost two hours to get from where she was to the tour bus pick up point.  Had I stayed any longer I would have missed the bus home.  I don't think they would have actually left me behind but ya never know.

I did manage to get my scissors sharpened by the scissor guy.  I've gone to him so many years that he knows me when he sees me.  He always has a smile and a wink when I arrive and greets me by name.  Funny how habits can form friendships. 

I bought these at Hancock's of Paducah.  I wanted a set of browns but those were sold out.  Hmm.... sold out early in the morning on the first day of the show?  There must have been someone there ahead of me looking for the browns.  I can still use these.  I wanted these for doing some portrait quilts...... IF I ever find the time to make them. 

Oh yes, I forgot, there is also a finished quilt to show you.  This one began with one side that was either two or three inches longer than the other side.  It is now square.  Hmm.... a half inch difference... but the best I could do.

The outside border I did a leaf and curl design. 

The first inside border I did a different leaf and curl design and a simple swag on the second inside border.

I did line dancing on the pieced squares.

Another leaf and curl design on the setting triangles.

One more leaf and curl design on the solid squares.

Here is the longer side border that I tucked to resemble a pieced border.  You can see that it does show but looks much better than it would if I had simply left it quilted with all those little tucks.

I'm hoping to get more work accomplished..... if..... if.... the weather clears up, the neighbors behave themselves, the machine acts right,.... well you know what I mean.