Finish it Up Friday- Summer Sampler, The WHOLE Thing!

 Stick a fork in her, she's done! She's stippled, bound, and big stitch quilted!

 She is all ready to be labeled and sent off to California to be auctioned at the 2014 West Coast MCC sale!

 The final touch was the black big stitch quilting with DMC perle cotton, to echo the look of the focus fabric in the border, and the center star block.

 It was tough to get through all the seam allowances of this paper pieced star so the back isn't as neat as it could be, but the front looks JUST the way I imagined it should!

Now mark your calendars, West Coast MCC Sale 2014 Quilt Auction April 5! Be there and bid her up!
I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and Finish It Up Friday!

WiP Wednesday-Summer Sampler Stipple

Well the decision was made to stipple the main quilt and then big stitch the border.


I'm happy with that decision and I'm loving the look. I'm just about half way done and I hope that I can get it done by Friday. It's been a surprisingly busy week!
On the garden front, I harvested two tomatoes! Luke ate one, I ate the other, and I forgot to take a picture!!! They were apricot size cherry tomatoes and they were tasty.
Linking Up With Lee at Freshly Pieced.
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Finish it Up Friday-A Big One

I have been working on this Summer Sampler Quilt Along quilt for approximately three summers. Whew! I'm so excited to announce that this quilt top is DONE!

Some people hang flags in front of their houses....I hang quilts. 

This quilt is going to MCC. I think it will end up in the West Coast MCC sale. Now my big dilemma is do I send it to the NFC quilters to big stitch or do I machine quilt it myself and try to top stitch it with some DMC embroidery floss to make it look like the argyle focus fabric (Remix Argyle Plaid, by Ann Kelle)? Also, I really want to bind it in black. Do ya'll think it'll take away from the look?

I'm linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts and Finish it Up Friday.

Sunday Sum-Up

I finished my bottle painting project!

 I also got my diamond border on my Summer Sampler Quilt! Woooh! Now all that's left is the final outer border!

 I put my seedlings out to get some sun. I spaced the trays out so they wouldn't make any shadows on each other...and the dumb Kansas wind blew two of the trays over. I was sooo sad, and mad, and yeah. I spent the afternoon making cups for them out of catalog pages and so far we've only lost four zinnia seedlings.

On a bigger front, our house is CLEAN! Clutter is put away, beds are made, laundry is done, floors are swept, vacuumed and mopped. The freezer is once again stocked with lunches and breakfasts. The kitchen table is clear of residual mail, notes, and other clutter. It feels soooo good! I even dusted everything. Spring cleaning peeps!
This afternoon was spent at one of the community garden sites. One of the cool things about this garden is that the raised beds in the center are wheel chair accessible. My plot is going to be back just behind that white shed which I am utilizing as a wind block for my peas!

They need early planting, so I planted them today!

Lastly, sooo many thanks for all the pictures of the West Coast MCC sale that were posted and sent this weekend! They were like post cards from home! Seriously! (And especially after the seedling wind catastrophe!) I've put together SOME of them so you can see "the goodness!"


Official Zwieback consumption!


My friends and family!!!

WiP Wednesday 4/3

Wow, I can't believe it's Wednesday already! I've got a lot of "stuff" in the works!

 First is a bottle makeover ala Pinterest. For the original project see here!

 Luke is using parts from my dissembled Pallets to make me some mini raised beds for spinach and carrots.

 I started this quilt (Giant Star Quilt Tutorial by In Color Order), but it's on pause as I realized the white I was using was actually intended for my Summer Sampler and I better finish that one so I know how much white I have to allot to my giant star quilt!

 But before that, I had to fix this block that was just holding me up. The underneath fabric was showing through the triangles in the corner square. At first I thought I could handle it, but I think it was the subconscious reason I hadn't put the blocks together yet.

 So, the block got dismantled, fixed, and reassembled. 

 And now the blocks have been sashed and joined.

 Now I'm trying to do the math for the border (and the border to make the border fit properly.) Yaaaaay quilting math! (Students always wonder when they're actually going to use the math I teach them. "For when you decide to quilt" doesn't always carry a lot of weight with most of them. After doing our taxes (we live life on the edge and wait 'til the last minute) my brain votes to pick this project up in the morning.

 Grand Finale: We're working on finishing off these amazing scalloped potatoes!

I've been afraid of scalloped potatoes since '07 when I decided we would try to make them for the first time for a camp of 150 people. There are like three things wrong with that statement. Anyway, I re-attempted scalloped potatoes and they were AWE-some. The only reason finishing them is still a WIP is because we're both lactose intolerant and they have lots of CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE!

I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced and WiP Wednesday!

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Monday Musings

Muffin n. vessel for butter.

Allergies n. Itchy ears, sore throat, snoring husband

Air Conditioner n. 1. Marriage saver 2. Enables quilting 3. Goodness

Saturday night we had a get together for people who worked at the place I worked last summer. (Interestingly, only one of us still works there.) It was so much fun!



















Sunday Cami came over and we figured out how to use the sewing machine she inherited from her Grandma.



And THEN she started her FIRST QUILT!!!



She's making a log cabin quilt with some variations. First variation: One of the fabrics in her stack, her "focus fabric" is too big/pretty of a print to make into small strips. So we're going to do block size (9 inch) squares of it And put it in randomly.
Variation 2: purple and yellow blocks AND purple and green. Were going pretty non traditional!

Lastly, I stayed up waaaay to late making this block last night.



It was not right, so I stayed up later to make this block:



Still not perfect, but better.
I've got three more to make today. Better get a move on! Also, ALL my lipstick skirts are DONE! I'll try and take a picture today.

Oh one more thing.*added at 1:49 PM*  My husband just got up and emptied the dishwasher yesterday. It was sexy.
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WIP Wednesday- Pot-whatchamacalit-Along

Catching up on my Summer Sampler quilt along. Time for Red and blue! The red and black blocks in the middle are going to be wedding presents for a friend of mine. They're a bit tricky because Luke says a 6 inch pot holder is too small and I say 8 is too bog. So I went with 7...can you saw WIERD measurements? Anyway, from what I can tell by her registry they match her china and kitchen. Cross your fingers it's true or else that makes me one of "those" wedding present givers.




Any clues on how to put loops on a pot holder? (ps. My brain wrote pot sticker instead of pot holder. Maybe it's time for a lunch break.)

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My First Quilt Along

I was blog browsing and came across this beauty! It's the first quilt along that has jumped out and grabbed me!

It looks a lot bit tricky. But I'm game! It's called the Summer Sampler Quilt Along. Hopefully mine looks as pretty as the digital version!
These are the fabrics I'm using:


I've joined the Flickr group as well! Wow folks....this must be "fer reals!" I better get going since it started today! I'm already one block behind!!!