Almost Wordless Wednesday - 6/29/11

Two of Castile Fire Department's FINEST!
Uhhhhh...need I say anything more?

(Maybe this should be on the label for my fireman quilt...)

You might be a redneck if...

...the highlight of the week (month?) is going to the Wiscoy-Rossburg Fishfry!!

W-R is a volunteer fire department in the neighboring county that has been having a monthly fish fry for as many years as I can remember.

Below is one of the two rooms for eating (this room is actually a 2-truck bay in the firehall) and you can see the kitchen in the way back and the cake cutting station on the far right. There was a large amish family eating in the other room. It's clearly served family style and it's all you can eat fish, coleslaw, cottage cheese, rolls and french fries. We got there later than normal so only had a short wait but I can remember waits of over 30 minutes, outside, in the cold. And it's always soooo worth the wait too!

 #1 Pops is a real prankster and posed for this entertaining photo.

Mom wanted a normal pose for posterity so I retook the shot.



Mom doesn't do funny faces but I really like this one. Wish the eyes were more in focus.

We were sitting very close to the kitchen and I had spent the night trying to get the chefs from afar but someone always walked in front of me. Finally mom dared me to walk over and ask to take a close up. What's a redneck to do but comply?! Thanks for a great dinner guys!

PSA

As is usual on a long weekend where you have lots to accomplish - it doesn't happen! Oh sure, I got some house cleaning done and went for groceries. A huge wind storm came thru Friday night/Saturday day and took my grill cover with it in exchange for someone's plastic plant pot. Dad and I cleared out the office/library so we could begin remodeling the room. Can't wait to lose the pink walls and grey-green trim. Yewchtcht.

I think I spent about 27 minutes in the quilt room, working on class samples. The rest of the weekend was spent cooking, vegging in front of Deadliest Catch or going on rescue calls. And, for lack of anything better to blog about, how about a PSA?

When was the last time you took a first aid class? A CPR class? Do you know how to use the AED in your office building? Do you know that CPR has changed, even since I was certified 2 years ago? It has. Do you know that starting CPR when the person first needs it can be the difference between life and death? It can.

I know you all have friends, family, neighbors, co-workers or even enemies and frienemies. Someday they may need your help. It could be for any problem, at any time but having the training means you don't have to stop and think about what to do. You just let your subconcious kick in and you do it. Someday, someone will thank you for taking a few hours out of your busy life to take a first aid or CPR class.

I shouldn't need to say this but I will - you should ALWAYS call 911 first. The ambulance or fire department will come at any hour in any kind of weather and we would rather go back home with everyone safe than be too late to make a difference.

I only know of one exception to calling 911 first. Do you know what it is?

2011 UFO Challenge list

Some people live and learn and change how they do things, others are optimistic...

Tuesday night I finally put together my list of 12 UFOs that I want to tackle for Judy's 2011 UFO Challenge. I planned to take the pictures Wednesday morning when the light was better. Ok, I mean when there would actually be day light because it's dark when I get home from work. The rescue call in the middle of the night and the sleep deprived stupor where I screwed up the alarm clock yesterday morning meant no time for pictures. Last night I worked on quilting a table topper that I am planning for a class and went to bed at a decent hour, planning to photograph the projects this morning. Yup, there was another rescue call in the middle of the night and I just couldn't get my act in gear for fotos this morning. So...here's my boring list for the challenge:

1. Quilt and bind Michelle's table runner
2. Complete the top for the Pennsylvania mystery (my LQS in Miami did a monthly mystery quilt based on countries or states - I have all the fabric for this quilt but it sits forgotten in a drawer with some of the blocks done. These were never difficult quilts, big blocks and all, it was just forgotten. It's brown and pink, very pretty)
3. Design and execute borders for Jared takes an Asian Wife. This is my take on Bonnie's Jared takes a wife quilt - I used asian fabrics.
4. Orange & Black log cabin wall quilt - pull off the rest of the paper, quilt and bind
5. Sister's Choice - I have blocks together with the sashing already on two sides of each block, I just need to decide how big I want the top, if I need to make more blocks and then to put the top together.
6. T-shirt Quilt - I have the tshirts cut already, I THINK I just need to assemble the blocks (this is on point) and put the top together.
7. Quilt for Kids - I wanted to add an appliqued cat to this, then I just need to quilt and bind
8. Carolina Christmas - I discovered the borders seem to be almost done, they just need to be sewn to the quilt top.
9. Batik - again, the borders are almost done, just need to attach them
10. Wine French Braid - I am not even 50% sure where I am on this. I think all 4 braids are done and then the top needs assembling. All the pieces are in a drawer so it should be easy to pick it up.
11. Quilt a quilt. I have a stack of tops that need quilting and binding. Sandwhiching is my least fav thing to do so tops tend to pile up. I bet there is a stack of 10 quilt tops that need attention. I didn't pick a specific quilt since I could finish more tops before #11 is chosen.
12. Same as #11.

Based on what I picked for the Challenge, it appears that I get stuck at borders and then that !@#$ sandwhiching. OK, there are no 'appearances' I knew that already.

I tried to pick some easier projects than others for variety. I'll be happy if tops are completed and then I can put away the bits from the project boxes. I don't plan to purchase fabric to start anything new at this time - but I won't deny myself if something really grabs me. The 3 B's still qualify. Bonnie mysteries don't count for purchases since I don't normally stock the yardage that her quilts usually call for. I do have kits at home that I have prepared with fabric and patterns, I would like to work on those.

If it doesn't happen that way I'd like, oh well. Live and Learn, right? Nah, I'll just be optimistic!

Design Wall Monday - 12/27/10

So, it's the last 2010 DWM and I don't have any real progress to report.

Based on my own observation last week, that John confirmed, I am changing the firemen a little. The fireman fabric now blends in so well with the RWB blocks that it fades into the background. I am in the process of frogging off the top and bottom block sections so I can add a narrow black border. Hopefully it will be worth it.

The 8 foot table (left over from a Christmas party) that I had been using as a design wall for the firemen quilt has now been repurposed as tax central. As Town Clerk I also collect the Town & County taxes, starting in January. I spend the week between Christmas and New Year's pulling escrows, sealing and adding postage to those 7 boxes of bills covering half the table. The other half is pressies I haven't put away yet - the blocks are still on the table tho! It's not a hard job to do escrows but it does take time. As a bonus, I usually get through at least one audiobook while I do this. I tried watching movies but I spend more time watching than working.

Design Wall Monday - 12/20/10

As I often do, I over-estimated what I would be able to accomplish on Friday but I had fun sewing and cooking and that was all that mattered.

I was delayed an hour while I waited for the migraine meds to kick in but the cinnamon rolls gave me a nice energy boost. I worked all day on the fireman quilt and actually did accomplish “enough for who it’s for” as my brother would say. This picture was taken yesterday but I almost finished that side section this morning. On Friday I finished the top and bottom sections (15 blocks each). That leaves me with the other side (20 blocks) where some are cut out already but not many and I’ll have to reuse some of the colors because I am NOT buying more fabric for this project. It's bigger than I had originally imagined but I want it big enough to cuddle with on the bed or couch.

The 4 outside corners will be yellow blocks (the picture shows where I was debating outside corners or corners of fireman fabric). I wanted a RWB quilt to match the fireman fabric but here in Castile we have yellow trucks which are more visible. I am thinking of embroidering something on the yellow blocks about our fire department.

Dinner was squash risotto with red wine & cheese sausage and a yummy salad and that pretty much put an end to the sewing since I watched some old Bonanza episodes on DVD while I ate and never got back off the couch.

I did think about the UFO’s I want to finish in 2011 but it never progressed past the thinking stage.

The highlight of the day was the Christmas Caroler’s that came to the front door. They sang two songs and we had a little chat about the quilt I was wrapped in until they sent me back into the warm house. It was such a nice gesture but I was frustrated I couldn’t find the camera.

Saturday was spent with Mom at my SIL’s making candy. We only made 3 kinds of truffles, 2 kinds of nut brittle, 3 kinds of fudge, caramels, a couple other things that I can’t remember. The boys helped a little here and there as mixers and taste testers. And in this example, the boys were of all ages  :)

Yesterday the girls that plan our summer chalk fest got together to make osage orange center pieces. Kim also posed for this graceful shot and didn’t believe that I would actually post it!

Retreat!

Tomorrow I am taking a UIOLI Personal Day so I have decided to treat it as my very own in-house retreat. I will spend the day in my fav PJ’s, will not lift a finger to do any housework and sew all.day.looooong. For lack of anything else to photograph, here is my honey do list…

Priority #1 for the day is to turn these FQs into more fireman blocks. When these are done I am pretty sure I will have enough to lay out the quilt and get the top together. It should be 52 blocks if I did the math correctly.

There are a few xmas gifts to finish up and a class sample to finish as well.

Pick my 12 UFO's for Judy's 2011 challenge. Will try to post pictures of my choices next week.

I really ought to work on my Turning 4-T quilt blocks. I started project this back in November 2009 and here it is with only 31 days left to finish it before the big day. Here at CasaGrande we don’t have EQ7 but I am up to PQ2 (Paper quilt 2.0) while I work out the design. I am leaning towards 10 green blocks where the 4 T’s would then total 40 and the remaining small (or very large, as above) blocks would be neutral on neutral. Still working that part out tho. I have 2 more green blocks to make if I decide to stick with this design.

And if all that gets done … which I doubt it will ... I need to work on my RollRollCottonBoll blocks. I still need to do parts III and IV and I'm sure part V will be posted tomorrow.

I'll post a report of what gets accomplished next week.
I'll also try to post the solution to last week's wazzit.

Design Wall Monday - 11/29/10

Between the 3 turkey dinners I enjoyed, I spent parts of the long weekend working on my firemen blocks.

They are soooooo easy, brainless and addictive.

I am questioning that light blue in the upper right even tho it does match the blues in the fireman fabric. I only have enough red and blue cut out for what I think will be half the quilt. I could totally remove the light blue or add in more light blues.

What do y'all think?

Design Wall Monday - 11/8/2010

Woohoo! School tax collection is pretty much over – just piddly little changes and boxing everything up when we are sure it’s done. This means that I can get back to sewing more and posting more!

The best news is that we now have a truly LQS - The Quilter's Daughter - it’s just a couple miles from my office and while that can be trouble, it also means that I can teach quilting classes to offset most of my purchases!! They are working on their website but I will post it as soon as it’s online.

My first class will be in a couple weeks on making the windmill table runners that I am addicted to. In January I’ll be making a table topper. Did you notice the same trend I did??!! Someone called me the tablerunner queen and it seems to continue...

I started by making these 4 blue and purple blocks from a pattern in the latest Quiltmaker magazine just to see how easy the pattern was. They are sewwww easy and just 2 FQs! Claudia saw them and wanted me to teach a class so I’ll be adding a flange with the dark purple pictured and a scalloped border of the dark blue. It will finish around 25” square. To make sure that we could complete all or most of the topper in a 3 hour class, I have started a second one and I’m timing myself. The colors seem to have more contrast at home so I hope that contrast eventually transfers to the final product, if not in the pictures.

Then, at a recent quilt show I found this fireman fabric. Really, who could resist and I only bought a yard. I’m making these red white and blue blocks and will somehow fashion those blocks around the fireman. I had originally thought of putting them on the back but that’s no fun. And no, I’m not cutting them up – they will serve as a “panel.” This baby is for my bed  ;)