all together now...

20 blocks from years ago

 plus 25 cornerstones

 and 49 pieces of sashing

there was just enough of the sashing fabric to add a 1" finished border all the way around 

and enough of the cornerstone fabric for the binding and the yellow part of two masks for the next protest - Stand With Ukraine

(and there's enough left of the backing flannel for a pair of shortie pj pants - already cut out and ready to sew)

bonus points for one empty pizza box and half of a shelf cleared

win/win

The future depends on what you do today. 

Mahatma Ghandi

celestial map

found in the Great Pile of Stuff...

Melissa's map of a Second Saturday Sampler from the Quilters Studio (a Longmont quilt shop that closed more than ten years ago  - i miss those saturday mornings) ... she pieced the blocks that were provided by the shop, and started another set with stash fabric ... it seems that she lost interest after the first 21 blocks, so the map was shortened to five rows of four...

they will  be 9 inches finished ... gonna need some sashing and corner stones cuz 36 x 45 inches overall is kinda small...

and i think the layout is gonna need some tweaking ... there's a pizza box of stash fabric that will have to be used for any additions to this cuz we have a new (old) rule - no new fabric if there's stash that will work 

i don't like the new rule

Sometimes you just have to pee in the sink.

Charles Bukowski

three generations postscript

seven years ago...

 the Fat Quarter Shop had a Christmas Block of the Month available... 

 Everyone and Her Sisters were making the blocks and posting them each month... 

really cute blocks... 

and, of course, i drank the Kool Aid... 

the FQS kits were generous with fabric, and there were almost enough leftovers each month for Melissa to make a block, too... 

one of my Favorite Bloggers in the Whole Wide World offered us her scraps and leftovers...

 and Melissa and i were off to the races...

we made each of the blocks as the kits arrived...

yep, we actually kept up with the Rest of the World

 and had all twelve blocks (times two) finished In A Timely Manner...

Melissa wanted to finish hers just like the pattern, and ordered the finishing kit... 

 i wanted to use green instead of blue, so i ordered some yardage for the sashings and the borders...

since we were on a roll 

and it looked like we were actually gonna get the flimsies put together,

 we ordered backing and binding fabrics, too...

all of the goodies arrived

 and we ooohed and aaahed at them...

we put everything together with the binder of the monthly patterns and the finished blocks...

fast forward seven years...

 a couple of months ago we found all those Goodies in the Great Pile of Stuff...

i said

  i'm gonna put my blocks together and get mine outta here!

and Melissa said

i'm gonna finish mine before you finish yours!!!

a few hours later, we both had flimsies...

seriously, it couldn't have taken more than three or fours hours...

it was another hour or two to get the backings together and prep the bindings...

in the meantime...

LuLu added a few more squares to her Very First Ever flimsy 

and chose a sweet reindeer flannel for her backing and solid red for her binding...

my sweet LuLu and her sweet flimsy

we sent off all of them to Liz Bowman for quilting...

 and they came back from Michigan full of frosty quilted goodness...

a few more hours for the bindings...

dianne's FQS 2010 Christmas BOM finally finished in 2017

Melissa's FQS 2010 Christmas BOM  finally finished in 2017

LuLu's Very First Quilt Ever

LuLu is NOT fond of sewing down her own binding, so i helped

 and our three generations had three completely finished quilts in time for Christmas...

we were MADE FOR EACH OTHER!!!

woo hootie hoo!!!

autumn lights

in october of 2011

 Auntia and i started working on a BOM that was sponsored by The Quilter's Studio of Northern Lights by Marti Michell using autumn batiks ... Auntia was a LOT more excited about the whole idea than i was - she finished her setting blocks before the second meeting... 

and then her interest wavered, too... 

both of us kept up with the blocks each month and went to the meetings, but neither one of us was really in love with the fabrics OR the pattern after the first three or four months... 

that's what happens when Reality sets in, huh?!?

anywho, we finished up the blocks and put them together into rows...

and the rows into flimsies... 

and then i added the borders to mine and started to look for enough flannel backing in the stash ... i didn't much care for the front, so i picked up the first large piece of yardage that was beigeish shudder that i found in the flannel pile ... and after piecing it together into one big piece of backing, i sent it off to Liz the Longarm Quilting Wizard so she could work her magic... 

and now...

 Autumn Lights

i LURVE it!!! 

it is BIG - so big that i had to stand on a step stool to get most of it off the floor for picture-taking (my quilt-holder-upper wasn't here to help me) and my arms were aching before the camera had time to focus, lemmetellya...

dinosaurs?!? seriously?!? maybe i should have been a bit more particular about the backing

it has now taken up residence on the OldManLeatherChair and is doing a great job of keeping my backside warm, whilst Auntia uses Samhein for her red leather chair...

Auntia's Northern Lights in autumn batiks is ready for the outer borders ... i hope she finishes hers before next autumn cuz i am gonna be wanting Samhein back...

if you can't say sumpin nice

don't say nuthin at all...

Thumper's mother's words to live by

Mr. Nutz cooling his mmphms on a hot summer day months and months ago ... i have nuthin nice to say about Mr. Nutz ... so i won't say nuthin at all...

we have been hanging out at our not-so-local quilt shop for several years ... we know the owners, have taken a few classes, participated in Blocks of the Month, and spent thousands lottsa dollars there ... so we have had hundreds lottsa opportunities to hear different politically correct ways of saying 

holy crap!!!

U G L Y - you ain't got no alibi! that's ugly!!! 

it looks like a dog chewed it up and spit it out! 

ahem ... interesting take on your block/border/quilt...

my Personal Favorite is uttered by one of the shop owners when she is at a loss of something positive to say regarding a Miscreant Quilter's latest production...

it's your quilt...

which is always followed by a pregnant pause and some serious head-shaking

she utters these words a LOT at the monthly BOM meetings ... and i don't think that Auntia and i are the only ones who know that she is really saying...

tsk. tsk. what were you thinking?!?

anywho ... i brought Awesome! with me to a saturday meeting for show and tell ... i wasn't going to take her because ... well ... because there are some Not Very Nice Quilters in the World and the last thing that i wanted to hear about Awesome! was any Negative Criticism ... not that Negative Criticism would change the way that i feel about Awesome! because i truly did put my Heart and Soul into making her, and she is even better than i had hoped she would be ... yikes ... i just realized that Awesome! is female ... i don't think i've ever made a not-male quilt before ... anywho, Auntia told me that i ought to share Awesome! with the Real World, and so i did...

and then i remembered something that i already knew about me - i am not good with more than one source of audible input at a time ... i can't process everything that everyone is saying around me, and i am uncomfortable when lottsa people are talking at the same time ... which means that the one phrase i heard was... 

"Good use of color."

when we left, i turned to Auntia and said...

seriously?!? good use of color?!?

to which she replied...

it's your quilt... 

ha ha ha!!!

mission accomplished

Twist of Lime has gone to live with the Keeper...

Keeper and Twist of Lime

each of my four granddaughters now has a pink and orange quilt to call her own...

and now ... about those two boys?!? i dunno ... i don't think pink would be a good choice ... but orange might be ... after all, we do live in Bronco country

and then there were none

the last time i posted about the Pink and Orange BOM blocks, there were four completed quilts and 24 leftover blocks ... now there are six quilts... 

twist of lime

irish gelatto

and no more blocks...

 woo hootie hoo!!! 

 the next time i start a BOM and i get the ridiculous idea to make all of the blocks and their alternates times three in another colorway ... will someone please smack me upside the head?!?

pressing matters

to press

or not to press?!?
when i am working with bias edges, i usually don't press ... and i usually regret it ... but when i DO press ... well, i always regret it ... so i didn't press this time till i was finished with all of the sashing for the setting triangles ... the top was spread out on the floor and Auntia said...
i'm really, really glad that i don't have to press that...

who said you don't have to press it?!? if it's gonna be yours, i think that's the least you can do...

i am NOT pressing that mess - you should have pressed as you sewed.

yeah ... well ... maybe so
and maybe no...

it was an intense hour with Ensign Ro*, lemmetellya ... i tried using steam - till i realized that i was making a mess of things - and then i took three steps back and ran into the baker's rack that holds the tv ... counted to ten ... took a few deep breaths ... thought some more bad words ... and tried again...Paper-Pieced Saturday Sampler with setting triangles and sashing
and without too many more bad words Ensign Ro and i smoothed the beast ... and now i get to pick out all of those little pieces of paper-piecing paper cuz i have no more excuses...


*Ensign Ro is our Rowenta iron - i know that she is a Bajoran cuz of all the wrinkles

smarter than a fifth grader?!?

i decided that i have too many BOMs and not enough quilts, so i got out these...

Paper-Pieced Saturday Sampler Blocks of the Month
and the embroidered teapots and teacups that i've whined about for the past year ... and i redid the math ... i have no idea why i thought i needed 24 embroidered blocks ... i knew i wanted to set the blocks on point and that i would have 24 paper-pieced blocks of four across and six down, with embroidered blocks for the alternate rows ... i wrote about the setting in my quilt journal but i did not make a diagram which would have shown me in graphite and graph paper that i needed fifteen embroidered blocks, not twenty-four ... sheesh ... i could have stopped whining nine teapots ago ... anywho ... i put all the blocks on the floor and asked Auntia to arrange them the way she wanted cuz this one is for her, too and brought the sashing strips that i've been putting together for the past two weeks cuz i messed up the math on them, too downstairs...four and twenty paper-pieced blocks with five and ten embroidered teapots and a gazillion nine-patch corner stones
and made this much progress before i'd had enough for one night...whose bright idea was this?!?
i don't know why i always underestimate how much time it's gonna take to put blocks together ... this was not a one day project ... i really need to get better at doing the math

no, i am NOT smarter than a fifth grader

jimmiejams

this month's Saturday Sampler Neutral BOM meeting coincided with pajama day at The Quiter's Studio ... 25% off the total purchase for showing up in pajamas by 9am ... Auntia had to drink a LOT of coffee to get going that morning...uh ... you have pinwheels on your head ... didja know that?!?

and she was willing to go out in public in her jammies...her dawgs are barkin'
she even ironed them so they would look nice ... but that's not all ... she ironed mine, too...yes, yes ... i can be bought ... but i ain't cheap!
i don't think i will be doing that again ... i just about froze to death cuz those jammies aren't that warm when they're not under a couple of quilts, a velux blanket and flannel sheets ... and those once-pristine pink fluffy slippers picked up a lotta dirt off the floor ... i'm just sayin'

cuzzin' up a storm

Auntia and i are going to the new Saturday Sampler BOM meeting at The Quilter's Studio tomorrow morning ... i hesitated to sign up for yet another BOM
cuz it eats up so many saturday mornings
and cuz it is a long drive there and back again with gas prices climbing higher
and cuz i find myself waiting till the last minute to put the required blocks together
and cuz i have finished only four of the nine quilts that i've started with BOMs even though i've participated in only 4 sets of BOM meetings
cuz you surely don't think that i'm not gonna make the required and the alternate blocks in another colorway, do you?!?
and cuz some of the people who attend the meetings are not a lotta fun to be around
and cuz some of them are downright mean-spirited
and cuz i don't really need to make another commitment right now
and cuz ... well ... just cuz...

but then i found out that we're gonna be making Hot Flashes ... hmmmm ... well ... all righty then ... i guess i can do that ... and it will be a whole lot more fun than the current Saturday Sampler BOM of neutrals shudder that Auntia talked me into signing up for ... i'm giving my neutral blocks to her cuz she likes beige shudder and has plans for a coffee quilt or sumpin'...

anywho ... i did manage to meet up with Peanut Butter Cup and give Daisy Duke to her...oh look!!! see the little monkey in the background?!?
she didn't want to stand in front of the quilt for a picture ... or behind it ... or to the right side ... or to the left side ... no ... she wanted to be in it...Daisy Duke and Peanut Butter Cup - don't they make a lovely pair?!?
which is why i made it...

done ... done ... done ... done ... done ... knot done

last night was another Friday Night Sew-In ... i didn't need to work on this...

Le Witche Boutique - seven of twelve
cuz it was done ...... and i didn't need to work on these...Paper-Pieced Saturday Sampler BOMs -
Handy Andy - Crossed Canoes
Jack in the Box - Cross and Crown
cuz they were done ...... so i put this together...a wibbon bwanket for a wittle baby
but it didn't take as long as i thought it would ... so i sewed together the black flannel that was on sale at JAF last week for $2.50/yard for the back of The Ghastlies ...... and then i put this together...NoJo's burger pocket
so this guy...NoJo gives a whole different meaning to the term meat head
can finish his first-ever-cross-stitch-project ... he has been working on a Cars bookmark...who says real men don't stitch?!?
instead of doing his summer reading ...... anywho ...... i searched high and low for the pattern that i made for mug hugs so i could start working on the 23 that i need to make as party favors for a brand new baby girl's shower in september ... but i couldn't find it anywhere ... and that made me too pissy to start on the 23 tea wallets ... so i took out the yarn for a daisy baby afghan for the same little baby girl and got this far...loves me, loves me not, loves me, loves me knot
before i decided that this is one more thing that just ain't gonna get did any time soon ... but it will make a lovely fifth or sixth birthday present, won't it?

what's all that racket?!?

i've been working on spirit guides this week...moo with attitude

and used the friday night sew-in to work on the buffalo ... he's in cahoots with this guy...where's a seal when you need one?
i half-sized them from these books...from Steamboat Springs, Colorado
which wasn't as difficult as it would have been a year ago ... i did hafta use my math skills, though, which are a wee bit dusty...
i worked on the SS3 BOMs last weekend and came up with this flimsy...more animals ... what's up with that?
and now i hafta turn over the computer to Auntia so she can post her FNSI stuff ... our poor little computer is making the most gawd awful sound kinda like playing cards that have been clothespinned to bicycle spokes and we are limiting our time using it so it doesn't burn up ... the sound is really annoying and i don't like it not one little bit

anudder one

kinda like the other ones ... the SS3 BOM for may was actually kinda fun to make...here's looking at you, kid!

i'm finally starting to feel comfortable with the templates ... one more block to go which will mean getting up early on saturday morning whether i want to or not ... and these blocks are not gonna sit around for months waiting for me to do something with them - they are gonna grow up and be a quilt by september ... famous last words ... mutter mutter mutter

and then there were three

3 flimsies - check
3 backings - check
3 batts - check
3 rolls of binding - check
3 spools of thread - check

ready ... set ... quilt
that's how i roll my bindings - are any of you old enough to remember teletype machines?
Auntia and i joined our first Saturday Sampler in august of 2008 ... i gave my 24 (original colorway) blocks to Auntia and she has completed a flimsy with them - but that is her story to tell and made the same blocks times two in Lakehouse pinks and oranges ... anywho ... my original intention was to make a pink and orange sampler quilt for each of my two granddaughters ... and then i found out that i would have another granddaughter (born april 16, 2009) ... i went a little crazy making blocks for my girls ... and by the time we finished up that Saturday Sampler i had seventy-two pink and orange blocks ... thirty-six of them have become...for LuLufor Gumdropfor Peanut Butter Cup
...the flimsies are 56"x70" ... that should be just about the right size for my babies to wrap around themselves when they are watching a movie or reading a book or having a tea party with their babies ... maybe the flimsies will be quilted and bound by christmas

now ... about those thirty-six remaining blocks ... hmmmm

butt kicker

the PPSS BOM blocks are ready for the meeting next saturday morning...rambler and bear paw
the one on the left (rambler - curse the scurvy dog!!!) kicked my butt for four (yes - count 'em - one two three four) hours yesterday ... the kit had a strip of fabric that was just big enough for those little polka-dotted triangles and not even a skosh of an inch for leeway ... i growled a lotta discouraging words that are seldom heard home on the range ...... okay ... okay ... okay ... maybe not so seldom ... Auntia's blocks have been ready since forever ago cuz she's such a showoff

thursday night mow-in

it took two trips sideways and up and down around the lawn on thursday evening to mow it down to an acceptable level ... when Michael Myson told me that he was using a pair of scissors to trim the grass along the edges of his yard i gave all of those errant weed whackers to him with the hope that he will be able to get one of them to work ... yesterday i bought a pair of lawn clippers so i could trim the edges ... i just came in from trimming the front with those clippers ... they are going back to the store - there's a big difference between clipping and chewing
anywho ... the plan was to get the grass cut on thursday so that friday would be free for the Friday Night Sew-In ... i even remembered to bake a pot pie and some cookies earlier in the day so we wouldn't have to stop to fix dinner ... no excuses for not settling in for an evening's enjoyment of stitching ... except that i didn't really want to stitch ... i didn't want to eat pot pie ... i didn't even want to eat cookies ... all i wanted to do was go to bed ... anywho ... i had sewn pink sashings around some of the Pink and Orange BOM blocks that have been glaring at me for the past three months the other day...that one is for LuLu ... it's a lotta pink and orange, innit?
and decided to work on the purple sashings last night ... i thought that maybe for Peanut Butter Cup's purple quilt the alternate blocks would look better with different background colors...Peanut Butter Cup likes purple
bleck ... i left them on the design floor to see if the morning light made them look any better ... and went on to the PPSS BOM blocks for this month ... Auntia finished one of her blocks and has a good start on the other one cuz she is disciplined and doesn't meander from one thing to another to another like her mother but this is as far as i made it...hey!!! don't just leave us here!!!
before i gave up and went to bed like i wanted to in the first place ... and now it is saturday morning ... i still don't like the alternate blocks in Peanut Butter Cup's quilt - i think i'm gonna go with just purple backgrounds ... the paper-pieced bear paw is waiting for me, too ... maybe there will be a saturday night sew-in...
maybe not

sounds like a plan

the bad news is ... i still don't like my SS3 BOM blocks ... i don't very much like working with templates and i really don't like my fabric selection ... it's been 10 months and i'm no closer to feeling the love... look closely and you might see a heart and stars ... look too closely and you'll see points that didn't quite meet

the good news is ... i have a plan of sorts...oooo! elephants!
doesn't look like much ... and the other two blocks will be two months in the making ... but it IS a plan kinda ... and maybe these BOMs will grow up and be a quilt someday

PPSS BOM - Act III

last month's Paper-Pieced Saturday Sampler BOM meeting wasn't as boisterous as usual ... More Than A Gardner and Peggy Money Penny and Peggy Perfect showed up for the 10:00 instead of the early meeting but it was still loud and crowded ... lottsa grumbling ... and grouching ... the Hoarse Whisperer asked if it was ever gonna stop taking three hours to make one 6-inch block ... i'm thinking that if we'd all stop whining and start sewing we just might show some progress

and maybe ... just maybe ... if i would pay attention to the little numbers on the foundation paper instead of adding pieces whenever i decide to i might not have to rip out so many stitches
i'm gonna blame some of my poor judgment on inhaling smoke from a burning electric motor ... when i was assembling my blocks a couple of weeks ago, Auntia was in the kitchen making frosting for her cake decorating lesson ... i smelled burning plastic ... and heard a whole lotta discouraging words ... and then more smoke wafted up the stairs ... along with even more disgruntled language ... then the front door slammed ... and slammed again ... when i peeked down the stairs i saw some stomping and flailing and some huffing and puffing ... i opened two windows and hid in the magick shoppe till Auntia's temper cooled ... i gave my poor little hand mixer a decent burial after he stopped spewing sparks and smoldering ... and when the air was finally clear i was able to finish my blocks...Jack in the Pulpit and Big T
i have seven teapots and a teacup stitched for alternate blocks...bor-ing!
i'm already bored with the floss colors ... i might end up breaking my own rule and adding some more greens and yellows
even though i told myself
no!
don't do it!
this is a blue and white quilt ... you are already breaking the rules by allowing any green and yellow
do you remember what happened with Sunny-Side Up?!? your blue and white quilt looked liked fried eggs!
just shut up and stitch with what you have!
i dunno ... maybe it's just a delayed response to smoke and sparks and flames