Quilt Show Preparations

After mom's doctor's appointment this morning we decided to get some of the strawberry pin cushions done for the boutique.  It was a beautiful day so we decided to sit outside at the picinic table and work on the hand sewing part.

Here is mom as we begin.

I just love these pincushions!  These three are one's that we started at bee Friday night and ran out of fiberfil to stuff with.  Mom and I ran by Hancock Fabrics and got some more to finish these up.

These will hold a ton of pins.

 Here is a top view after the leaves and stem were sewn on.

 And the three that are going to be sold in our boutique.  Aren't they cute!

While at Handcocks mom and I also bought some green and red felt so we could make us one of these too.  I had purchased some of the crushed walnut shells to use in pincushions so I decided that we would stuff ours with the shells......oh my goodness are these things heavy now.

 This is the brand of shells that I purchased.

 Here is a picture of my finished strawberry pincushion.  It must weigh 3 pounds....hehe.  It won't be moving once I put it on the table.  Love it.

 

Yeterday Roger was working on our roof.  I went up the ladder to make sure he was doing okay.....this is as far as I got.......I don't do heights well and I had to come back down the ladder.  He just laughs because he knows I am no help up there.  Now let you break or cut something and I'm right there, blood and guts no problem....heights....no way!

 After mom and I finished the pincushions I had to go with Roger to the doctor for his appointment.......day off.....doctor visits with everyone.....go figure.
Oh well, I digress.  After the doctor appointment I realized that I had not eaten all day, I had gotten going early to be with mom at her appointment, worked through lunch time with her on the pincushions and then to appointment with Roger and it was 5:30 pm when we left the office (yes that is after closing time as my husband and Dr. Berglind love to talk antique cars and of course neither one of them can hush and end the conversation when the nurses are trying to get them to go home) but we love Dr. B. 

Roger and I decided since we were both starving that we would go to Silver Bay a seafood restaurant near the doctor's office.  Yum, Yum.

We were sitting right beside this HUGE aquarium in the resturant.  This below is one of the two sharks in the tank swimming right beside me.

Beautiful tank and very relaxing to watch.

 

Happy quilting,

Shelia

Out Of Control Quilting Studio...YIKES!!

Do you ever feel like you have just lost control of your quilting space? 
Well today I soooooo feel that very way.  I have stuff everywhere in preparation for the quilt show and my own projects going on.  Below are just a few views as it sits today.  Sorry for the disaster show.

From the pictures you can see that I have things for the boutique, things for the silent auction, my quilt show entries etc.

Halloween fabric that I am using for my leader-ender halloween rag quilt.

 Stuff, stuff, stuff........I can't even see the top of my quilting table.  I don't know about you but this just drives me zonkers.  And of course I don't have time today to just come in here and clean all of this stuff up.......but this weekend.....I will have a table I can see again.

Just venting.....hope you find some time today to quilt.......and hope you can, unlike me today, actually find your sewing machine....hehe.

Happy Quilting,
Shelia

Finished Table Runner

Yesterday when I ran to the hospital to be with Roger III I dropped mom off at my house, I sure didn't want to expose her to anything in the ER.  While I was gone I handed her a bucket of green strips of fabric, I cut a batting and backing and showed her how to sew the strips and quilt the runner as she went.  She had the runner pieced when I returned to pick her up to go to her doctor's appointment.

 I love the scrappy greens.  She used some 2 1/2 inch strips and some 1 1/2 inch strips from the recut strip baskets.  I think she did a great job.

 Today when I got back to the house I put a scrap green binding on by machine.

I went to Hobby Lobby today to see if they had an item I was looking for and I found a bunch of things for my sweet hubby.  He was tickled with his surprises when he got home. They didn't have what I was looking for but I had fun buying for Roger.

Next is a picture of my studio door.  My favorite verse and so true.  I use dry erase markers alot to leave myself and Roger messages or reminders. 

Tonight it is off to Suzanne's house for bee.  Sure looking forward to some laughter and working on some projects.
Happy Quilting,
Shelia

Another Wonderful Find

Yesterday was, by my calendar, a very busy day as I had an early morning mandatory infection control class at our main campus of GHS, Probate appointment with mom, a doctor's appointment with mom and my annual arrhythmia test to do......whew.

As I arrived at the main hospital campus and after finally finding some where to park I headed out for the LONG walk to get to the hospital itself.  In my walking to find the meeting room I came across this find........Another celebration quilt which had been made by the hospital employees.  I noticed this from across a huge atrium so I had to detour past it for a closer look.

 Below are some close ups of some of the blocks.  So cute.

Isn't the labor and delivery block just precious.  All the little bundles of joy!

 The dialysis one was also cute.

 So much talent in a group of people.

 Night before last while going through some more scraps I found some left over "fabric strata.....AKA pieced fabric strip panels" which were left over from doing my uncle Virgil's quilt for his son Jason.  So I wondered......squeek, squeek.....that's my squeeky mind thinking.  What if I laid the strip panels across my 2 1/2 inch strip cutter in the Accuquilt.  Ta Dah!  I now have 2 1/2 inch square pieced strips.  I can sew these together into longer rows or not depending on what I decide to do with them.

I could make some more of the mug mats that I made as a gift to the ladies at my table for the All Season's Luncheon we had to raise money for Shriner's Hospital.  I did a patriotic table and all of the ladies I had at my table received one of these as their table favor from me. 

Here is the link to the post where I show the luncheon and tables decorated. Shriner's Hospital All Season Luncheon Fundraiser.

So back to my day yesterday, it quickly went to crap when I received this picture from my son in Florida of my grandson here in Greenville.  He had sent this picture to his dad of how he looked this morning and how he felt terrible.  My son sent me the picture and Grandma went into ER Nurse mode.  Called my grandson and when he could barely speak I quickly got him to the ER for treatment.  Not knowing if this was meningitis or not at the time.  Praise God for the not.  I work with a wonderful team of emergency doctor's and nurses who provided awesome care for my sweetie.  I felt so bad for him.  He felt so bad and when I swabbed his throat for the strep screen he was dry as a creek bed.  Said he couldn't drink much Wednesday and had been running fever since the night before.

He was so sick and this started yesterday......grrrrrrrrr, nurse for grandma and you don't call!!!!!!!!   He thought he would feel better yesterday but had this head to toe rash when he woke up having trouble breathing.  But many prayers answered. 

Final diagnosis severe case of Mono with allergic reaction to an antibiotic that a friend's doctor dad had prescribed penicillin for a questionable (undiagnosed) case of strep.  He gave him penicillin and zithromax.  Go figure.  so on top of his compromised airway, rash, fever and dehydration he now has to list both meds as allergies.  Wouldn't chance giving him either ever again to find out which was the culprit.

By 8:00 last night his fever was broke, he was able to drink fluids and was eating some home made chicken and dumplings, which he requested from grandma and of course I gladly provided.  Drinking gatorade and taking his steroids and benadryl.  His girlfriend Anastasia now also has grandma's cell number just in case my wonderful grandson is ever stubborn again and not calling me when he is sick.  Got to love em!

I told him that grandma is tooooooo old for him to be scaring the crap out of me.  He just laughed with his swollen face and lips and said "I'd give you a kiss grandma if I didn't look like a lizard right now"  hehe.  Thank  you Lord for helping me make it through this day!

Got to have some Bee girl time tonight.  Don't know what I'll take to work on but something will get sewn tonight.

Happy Healthy Quilting Everyone!
Shelia

Time For The Giveaway Winner!

Giveaway Winner Is....... sew.darn.quilt.

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway and for all the great comments.  I love how everyone has a special project that they would use the scraps for.  I have sent the winner an email and will get these in the mail when I receive her mailing information.

Happy Quilting,
Shelia

Gina's Giant Pincushion

At bee on Friday night I was using Gina's pincushion and wanted you to see this Giant thing.  It is awesome and you never run out of pins or room to stick more pins.  This huge strawberry is her pincushion.

 And to give you some idea of the size of this thing.....here is my hand on the cushion.   hehe.....Got to make one of these someday.

Don't forget that you still have some time to enter the giveaway.  But you must comment on the giveaway post.  Giveaway Post  I am enjoying reading all of the ways that you would use the squares.  So many of you also doing philanthropy project.

In honor of my Uncle Bob I leave you today with my favorite bible verse...
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart,
Lean not unto thine own understandings,
In all thy ways acknowledge him
And he shall direct thy path.
Proverbs 3:5 & 6


Happy Quilting,
Shelia

Friday Night Bee

Friday night bee therapy is just what we all needed.  Tonight we met at Gina & Dave's house.  Today is Dave's Birthday......HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE!

 Suzanne picked up a Death by chocolate cake for Dave's birthday.  WOW......WAS IT GREAT AND RICH!  It was four layers of cake, soaked in rum, separated by chocolate moose and a 1-inch think layer of chocolate moose on top covered by chocolate ganache.  Now that is death by chocolate.....delish!

And you don't see any of us turning it down do you!

Now that we are all in a proven chocolate coma.....we moved upstairs to start on our assembly line project of a rag quilt eye spy quilt for the silent auction.

At the start of the session each one of use took a different position in the assembly line.  Suzanne cut out batting pieces and more fabric squares, Me, Gina and Dave.....oh yeah Dave joined into the fun tonight, we were the piecers who sewed an X across each 5-inch square sandwich of fabric & 4-inch piece of batting in the middle.  Susan pressed fabric and anything else that we needed done and mom put the two pieces of fabric and a piece of batting into stacks for us to sew.  They kept me, Dave and Gina rocking for a long time.

As soon as we got enough blocks pieced Susan and Dave were assigned placing the sewn squares onto the design wall to be sewn into rows.  They got this assignment because these two have the most trouble being totally scrappy....you know not having a plan in the color placement.....These two are wonderful quilters but like having a planned quilt, even when it is scrappy.  We had lots of laughs and they did a great job with the placement.  It's scrappy!  Suzanne would not allow them to remove any square once it had been placed up on the board....hehe....such fun.

Here are the squares on the board just before Dave and I started sewing them into rows.  That is a wild process to someone who is used to putting the seams on the back of the block.  Yes there are some duplicate fabrics, but remember we said just throw them up and lets see what happens.

 Here are the assembly line girls keeping me, Gina you see her back in the picture and Dave sewing. 

 Here shows some rows sewn together.

And finally a finished childs rag Eye Spy quilt....the front. 

 And the back.  Isn't it cute.

After the rows were sewn into the quilt top Susan and Dave started the ragging process...ie., cutting 1/4 inch nips into each and every seam allowance all the way through the entire top.  While they did that we kept sewing squares for a second top for Habitat for Humanity. 

 Here is Suzanne setting the blocks on the design wall for the 2nd quilt.

 I brought the child's top home with me and washed it.  Here is the top after washing.  It is soooo soft and cuddly.  Some child is going to be a very happy little camper after someone purchases this at the silent auction.

You know having a bee group or even just a couple of ladies that you regularly sew with is such a blessing in your life.  I am very blessed to have such a wonderful group of ladies and men that we quilt with.  It was delightful to have Gina's husband Dave quilt with us Friday night.  He is in own right is an awesome quilter!  Thanks Dave for being there and showing us how to do this right.  Hope you enjoyed your "Birthday Bee Party".

Don't forget to register for the Giveaway I'm having.  You have until Wednesday night at Midnight EST to enter.  Giveaway Posting

Happy quilting everyone,
Shelia

I'm In The Scrappy Giveaway Mood!

I'm in the mood to share the scrappy joy around my house today.  As I viewed my blog last night I noticed that I have 144 followers.  That is awesome that so many people love to read about my scrappy, quilty, crazy at times mind.  So I decided to do a giveaway.

I know that alot of us quilters use our scraps to make quilts for different philanthropy projects.  In my guild we do quilts for Habitat For Humanity.  In other guilds I know they may be doing quilts for children's hospitals, Hospice Houses, Quilts of Valor and many, many others.  So to assist in the effort I am giving away.....

100 Precut 3 1/2 inch squares and a Mug Rug

 

 

Now you may ask....how do you enter the giveaway??????

 

Easy.......Be a follower of my blog and comment on what you would use the squares to make.  Would you use them for something for yourself or for a philanthropy project, a baby quilt for a new relative, a dog bed, a pillow?  Any of these is just fine.......just seeing what your creative minds will do with them is the thing that is most fun.  The mug rug is for you to enjoy your cup of coffee or tea.  You have until Midnight EST to enter the giveaway on September 26th which is next Wednesday.  I'll have a random number picked of those entered and announce the winner on my blog Thursday morning.

 

If you have a blog, please feel free to mention this on your blog and direct your readers here so they can also enter the giveaway. Leave me a second comment that you've posted about the giveaway on your blog and receive another chance to win. 

Amazing how I have just pulled 100 squares out of the 3 1/2 inch square box and I can't tell that I even removed anything from the box.  I think there are some little bunny rabbits in there somewhere.

Now if my blog followers go over 200 during this giveaway I am going to award a 2nd prize package of 100 3 1/2 x 6 1/2 inch rectangles and another mug rug to one of my followers.  I'll take pictures of that if we surpass 200 followers.  So you may have three chances to win some wonderful scrappy blocks to add to your collection.

Happy quilting........and good luck in the giveaway.
Shelia

More Scrappy Mind Tales

One of the tips that I teach in my Tips & Technique's Round Robin is to use a piece of thin plastic, put duck tape around the edges, and lay it on your quilt top.  Then you can use a dry erase marker to practice what you want to quilt on the block without having to rip out stitches.  You use a scrap piece of batting to erase your marks and try another design.  This is the sample that I use for my class.  You can see on the batting that I use a pink marker also...hehe.

Putting the tape on the edges keeps you from getting carried away and drawing onto your quilt top.....not a good thing.  Of course I like pink so my tape has always been HOT PINK duck tape.  I just love all of the new colors and patterns they make now days.  You can use any color that you like.

With that idea in mind you can also do the same thing with the dry erase markers on windows, mirrors etc.  I often leave my honey little messages in hot pink marker on his mirror in the morning.  I also use this to leave myself messages on the door so I can't miss it when I am leaving the house.  Below is the door to the outside from my quilting studio.  I just thought it was a good thing to remember today.

 Expo is the brand of dry erase markers that I've used and they come in a miriad of colors.  And you can't beat the price of the eraser....scrap batting.

I've tried out some different things with the Accuquilt today. First I tried the rectangle die on some scrap blue jeans I have in a basket to do a blue jeans quilt.  It cut right through six layers in a skinny minute.  I only tried 6 layers since it is much thicker than cotton fabric. 

Next I thought about the paper foundations that we use for piecing string blocks.  So I ripped out some pages from the phone book......you know that is the best use for those extra old outdated phone books, and I put them 10 layers thick through the die.  I don't even think it took 5 seconds to run through the machine and there I had 40 pages that we can piece string rectangles onto.  I think I will place these in a baggie with some strips, strings and chuncks and take them to mom tonight when we go for bee.  She loves piecing those string blocks.

 

Moving on to the next experiment,  I opened the box of strippy blocks that mom brought over.  I usually cut her pieces paper, she pieces away on the scraps then she brings back boxes of stripped blocks for me to square up for her.  She loves the mindless piecing of the strippy blocks.  I think it helps her keep her mind busy also.  So here is her box with some strips and squares  pieced.  I decided to see if I could cut some 3 1/2 x 6 1/2 inch rectangles out of the strips she had pieced.

 

 Worked like a charm.......won't these babies look great in a scrappy border!

 

I think I better quit playing for a while and get my house picked up for all of the family coming in tomorrow morning for the funeral.  My neice Kelly, her husband Jerry and her children will be up in the morning.

 

Happy Quilting,

Shelia