Mug Rug

 Here's what I did today:

For those of you that don't recognize this,

it is a Mug Rug.

A quilted piece about 6" x 8" that is designed to hold your

coffee/tea/beverage and a treat.

This particular one I made to enter a contest at Sew I Quilt.

I think today was the dead line and I think I sent the picture to the right place but I could be wrong on all counts.

I could be in the running for the worst one since my sides are all crooked and the binding is baggy, but mostly I just wanted to try my hand at one of these and finish one.

If you click here 

you can see all the entries and maybe you can see my sorry little rug there too, baggy binding and all.

Happy quilting!

 Finished the Chenille quilt.  I think it turned out cute but it is really heavy!  You can see all the different kinds of fabrics and textures that a  baby can get her hands into to feel.  The next picture just shows the back of the quilt which is plain old old fashioned chenille.

This turned out to be doable but I wouldn't recommend it as a cuddly soft quilt.  It turned out very heavy, not cuddly.  But that is what the customer wanted.

Keep on quilting and your quilting will get better every day.

Happy quilting!

quilting chenille

Haven't posted for a few days.

Had my infusion Sat and Sun,

rested Monday,

then spent yesterday in the ER with

huge headache and fever.

I'm okay now.

headache nearly gone and I don't have any flu or anything.

A few minutes ago I got a wild hare about a quilt that is waiting to be quilted and decided to start.

You see it is backed with chenille, the old fashioned kind, and there is also chenille on the front interspersed with regular cotton and minkee.

My headache may come back.

It is just 5 inch squares and a chenille border.

Oddly it quilts semi okay but when I'm going through the chenille on the top my hopping foot looks like Peter Rabbit hopping through high grass.

Just what I like --

a challenge.

It's really heavy, almost more like a rug than a quilt.



Gina's Beach Quilt

I thought today I would show a quilt I did early on in my quilting career.  I made this quilt in 2001, after my second trip to Kittyhawk  Beach with my brother and sister.  Which was also about 5 years after I got sick with Myasthenia Gravis  (that I mentioned yesterday). 

The first 6 1/2 years of MG I was on Oxygen 24/7 which made traveling a bit tenuous at best.  My first jaunt to N.C. took place in a car driven by a dear, dear friend over 3 days to get me and ALL my paraphernalia for survival there.

This second trip, I had improved enough that I traveled by myself via airplane.  (But still with Oxygen.)

I noticed on this trip that Gina needed a new beach quilt sew

I designed this quilt when I got home.

By this time I had only made a couple of place mats, a small quilt and 3 bed quilts.  Not much experience to be designing a medallion quilt.

But I managed to learn about coping strips and making getting things to fit around the previous rows.

Then I had to baste it.

I wasn't that experienced at basting yet and ended up having to baste it by myself.

A daunting task for a healthy person, but for me at that time, I could just barely breathe.

Sew I wallered around on the carpet in front of the office in my apartment complex.

(The only place I could think of the do this.)

And in a little over 2 hours time I managed to get it basted together.

It was NOT pretty.

I did not yet know about tacking down the backing while basting sew you don't get puckers in the back.

I did know about a busy back though, and that was very helpful later when I hand appliqued several large pleats down on the back.  You can hardly see them.

By the time I got to the forth side of this monster I believe I was oxygen deprived because I couldn't get it smoothed out, sew I got a needle and thread and took darts in the side.  (Left side between 2nd 3rd and 4th wave blocks.)

I was still very timid about my quilting stitches sew I quilted it with invisible thread.

Then I had the nerve to enter this quilt in a juried quilt show!

I got in, but did not get a prize.  Hmmmmm?

Well, Gina has her beach quilt, and she takes it to the beach, but she puts it on her bed.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

happy quilting

Lazy day

Didn't have a picture to post today so I wasn't going to post,

 but then I read that Blogger was posting blurry pics so I decided I might as well say something anyway.

You're probably saying,

"Don't your pics look blurry everyday?"

Yes they do, but I really try hard to get them right.

I'm pooped out.

Will be getting my Intravenous Immunglobulin infusion (IVIG) tomorrow

so soon, I'll be revved back up a perking right along.\

For those of you new to the blog,

I have myasthenia gravis.

As long as I take care of myself and don't overdo and stay away from sick people, I do pretty well and can keep cranking out quilting.

For this  am very grateful.

So , for the next couple of days, I will be connected to an IV

getting flooded with antibodies to confuse my immune system

so my brain will communicate with my muscles more normally for a

few more weeks.

Hey,  I read a new (to me) author yesterday.

Julie Hyzy, author of the White House Chef Mystery series.

I finished the first one, "The State of the Onion".

It was as good as the title!

Just reserved the second in the series:

"Hail to the Chef"

I usually listen to books I borrow from the library while I quilt and download them

directly to my mp3 player. 

These were not available for listening so I had to actually read.

Not to worry, I had not forgotten how.

Well, I better gar up for a trip to the grocery store so we have food for the weekend.

The infusion takes 2 days and its much better if I have have easy to prepare

foods on hand.  No muss, no fuss. 

Sometimes I end up with a headache, and sometimes I'm really tired, and sometimes

everything is normal.

Happy quilting!

Finally Finished

Finally Finished the Sunshine and Shadows

Log Cabin and it is nothing but feathers!

Here's a closer image of the dark area.

You'll have to click on the pic to see the quilting.

And this last pic is a closeup of a detail on the wreath over the dark area.

I'm really glad to be finished because I really quilted my butt bigger on this one!

Happy quilting!

Pincushion

I Really like this little pincushion.  It's sew cute

and sew much bang for your buck for just 2 squares.

Hmmmm, how is it done?

Sew simple yet, sew how did she do it?

Oh, I did not make it up.

A clever friend showed me how.

But it's still neat.

Have you noticed I've been gone a couple of days?

Embarrassed?

Ashamed?

Discombobulated?

In a tizzy?

Afraid to show my face?

........

Once again I have have incredibly bad tension problems on the back of the quilt that are operator error.  

I've adjusted the tension.

It is beautiful.

I change the bobbin and Bingo

It is not settled in quite right and and hour of quilting feathers turns into 2 days of unquilting.

I know what it feels like when it is right, but I get careless,

I'm "in the groove" and BOOM  --- I'm unquilting.

Yesterday I Unquilted my butt bigger!

While my butt grew, I tried to enjoy myself.

I finished listening to

"Knitting Bones" by Monica Ferris

and started

"The Last Boy" by Jane Leavy

(autobio and bio of Mickey Mantel)

I don't usually listen to nonfiction, but this is really good!

Happy quilting

Grrrrrrr

Did a couple of feather wreaths this am and then discovered bad tension on the back..  Managed to get one of them taken out and then

 I rewarded myself by making a pincushion.

Will post a pic later. 

Happy quilting.

Just a quick note

No pic today, just a progress report.

I got about halfway done with the log cabin and it is lookin' good.

Love it when quilting smooooooth.

You'll get too see it later I promise.

Happy quilting



First wreath

Here's the first wreath and it turned out just the way I envisioned it.

Sometimes the anticipation far out exceeds the final product but this is just the way I saw it.

The thread shows up just enough on the black and will just be a whisper on the light'

Oh I'm doin' the happy dance here.

More later, work now.

Happy quilting.



Brrrrrrrr

Here we are in Oklahoma, no snow but it's 11 degree's F with a windchill of -5.  I can't wait to get out and walk Dusty, NOT.  Oh well, it's got to happen so I've just got to bundle up.

This is a sample of quilting for the new quilt.  It is a log cabin, sunshine and shadow setting.  I immediately saw big feather wreaths for the quilting.  I never have done wreaths this big, so I did this sample with a fat quarter sandwich, mmmmmm.

I didn't get to the quilt though because my sewing machine did not like the thread I had on hand in the bobbin, sew I have to get to the quilt shop this am before I can get started.

Quilting here

 This little quilt is soooo cute!  It looks like a party.  I think you can see the quilting better if you click on the pic to enlarge it. 

This pic and the following one shows closeups of the back

 that really show the party nature of the quilting.

I thinks ribbons always look festive.

The next pic is the whole back, or most or it anyways.

It really shows that simple designs can turn into magic when placed evenly.    

In this quilt The ribbons went in the pinwheels and the setting triangles.  The alternating directional "O's" went in the small border around the pinwheels.  the alternating directional "C's" went in the patchwork border around the pinwheels. And finally the lower case cursive "L's" went on the piano key border surrounding the entire quilt.

Well I'm on to the next one and it has feathers,

my favorite!!

Happy quilting! 

Jar quilt

Jar quilt

I'm feeling better.  Went to the doctor on Friday and started meds and the glass in my throat is gone.

I managed to get this jar quilt done in the mean time.  It has a strange little history.

The Limes



The Beets



Two years ago, my friends bought this beautiful fruit and veggie fabric and I suggested a jar quilt.  We could make the quilt, see and send it to the Raquel Ray show along with information about our quilt guild and how we had made over a 1000 charity quilts in the first 4 years we were in service, bla bla bla.  She would hang the quilt on her set, they would come and film our little guild (about 100 members at the time) she would connect us up with Moda or some other wonder fabric company to provide all our fabric for our charity quilt endeavors and it would become a Raquel Ray Charity called 'Huggo' or something Raquel-y  Did I tell you I think big?

The Corn On The Cob

Well In about 2weeks time this jar quilt appeared at my front door ready for quilting.

At the time I had 10's of thousands of quilts to quilt so it sat and sat and sat and sat and sat............

Finally this weekend I quilted it.

Destination different.

This quilt will be going to Judy Howard for her traveling quilt show to raise money for food pantries and the hungry'

A much better destination don't you think? . 



Yesterday  managed to get 2 more quilts basted so I'm back at it.

Happy quilting

sick in bed

I think I might have glass in my throat!  Went to store and got Cloraseptic spray, my go to medicine.  Have 10 bean soup on the stove.  And I really do look like this!! 

Happy quilting!

Charity Day

Went to charity sew for the Mid-Del Stitchin' Sisters Quilt Guild

today and put a binding on a quilt that was already quilted.

I guess I did more gabbing and carrying on than working because as soon as lunch

was over and I was done with the binding I packed up and came home.

I was tired.

guess I'm on the downward slide.

My next infusion is the 22nd of January, so that's just in 2 and a 1/2 weeks. 

So I'm starting to poop out quicker.

The Winter Quilt Show is next week,  I hope I'm perky enough to go, I may have to stay home.  There were a couple of people there to day with colds and I already have a scratchy throat.

I have to be sooo careful

since I take immunosuppressive medication for

Myasthenia Gravis

Happy quilting,

Pincusion

 Here I am.  Another day and I'm doing a small project instead of one of the quilts waiting for me up on my shelves.  A friend showed me how to do this cute, cute pincushion the other day and I had to try just one.  You can't really tell. but it has a ziggy zaggy circumference.  Easy to make. Hard to explain without pictures.  I love the little teapot ceramic button I put on the top.  I bought those years ago at a sale for pennies.  I have many and have never known what to do with them.  hmmmmm?

I used some nickle squares to make this that our guild exchanged a while ago. So I have plenty of supplies for more of this project!!  Filled it with crushed walnut shells (or reptile bedding if you buy it at Pet Smart for next to nothing.)  In the second picture you can see the ziggy zaggy circumference a little bit more clearly.

Happy quilting.  I better bet back to it soon!

Cosmetic bag

Here's the little Cosmetic Bag I made yesterday at the Laughing Quilters.  The directions were a bit unclear and had no pictures so I had to call the lady that wrote the pattern and she clarified some things and it became smooth sailing. I used warm and natural batting in the bag and that turned out to be a little too thick, so next time I'll try some low loft poly and see if that works better.  I'm really glad to learn how to do these multiple pockets on the side.



This second picture  shows the inside of the bag which is a really cute coordinating print.  I wanted the quilting to show up on the outside and the print to look flashy when you opened it up.  I might try to do a tutorial on this bag if anybody is interested.  Leave me a comment and I'll try my hand at that.

I've been doing some cooking prep this morning.

Found a new recipe for a slow cooker spaghetti sauce the uses a cubed up (1 ") steak that you dip out and shred after cooking.  I used a stew meat that looked real lean.  It also called for carrots and celery that you run through the food processor.  I'll let you know how this turns out.

I also have beef jerky in the oven for Dusty.

(Yes Dusty is my darling little doggie with the beautiful blue eyes.)

A couple of years ago when dogs were dropping dead because of the "made in China" products with some kind of plastic in them, I looked at the chicken jerky we were giving Dusty that we bought from Sam's.

"Made in China"

It also contained about a million additives so I chucked it and started making him beef jerky out of rump roast.  You might think that that sound incredibly extravagant for a dog.  But it cost about $12.00 for the chicken jerky that lasted about 3 weeks that had looks of salt and who knows what in it.  And the beef jerky costs about $14.00,  lasts about 4 - 6 weeks has absolutely nothing but the beef and all I have to do is say,  "Mr Butcher, could you kindly slice this thinly for jerky please?"

And I don't even have to bat my eyes!

Then I lay it out on the broiler pan sprayed with pam and turn the oven to just under 200 degrees F and cook it for a few hours until it is dried out but not too brittle, still chewy.

I store it in Ziploc and keep it in the fridge and my Dusty loves me very much.

(Trust me those blue eyes can make you do lots of things!)

Happy quilting

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!!!

I'm a little late in the day, but I went to my

first Saturday

Laughing quilters group this morning.

Made a cute cosmetic bag.

Will post later after I tweak it a little.

Here is picture of a table runner and place mats I sent to my brother

for Christmas.  He sent me the pictures today since I forgot the pics before I sent them to him.

As usual for me

GO SOONERS!!!

 

Well, since it is New Years Day, anybody have any resolutions?

I've got one.

"Use it, don't lose it."

I have been noticing that I'm throwing away a lot of spoiled food.  Some leftovers that I'm not getting into the freezer, but a lot of stuff I'm just not using before it goes bad.

Mostly because I forget about it.

My crisper has turned into a slimer.

So that is my one and only resolution.

Leave me a comment about your resolutions.

This could be fun.

Have a good year, full of prosperous quilting experiences and good health for everyone.

Happy quilting.