UFO completion

Last week I was able to finish the quilting on this lap quilt (The pattern is Crossing from the June 2010 APQ Magazine).  The only thing left is to bring the binding to the back and sew it in place.

Of course, after I had the whole top sewn together, I  realized that I could have planned the placement of the tan blocks too, instead of just the darker blue blocks and that would have made a better pattern, but oh well. I'll leave it as is.

With that quilt waiting for a few hours of TV time to be completed, I unexpectedly got motivated to finish this Advent Calendar, it only needed a rod pocket and a rod to hang it up.  Then I put together this Jesse Tree to go along with the Advent Calendar.  I have some symbols I printed off the internet that I am going to laminate, and then attach Velcro to the back of each symbol so it will stick to the wool felt of the Jesse Tree.   Every day in December, DS will be able to pull a symbol out of a pocket on the Advent Calendar and place it on the Tree.


I also found time to finish a husband-sized baby sling that I started two years ago and never finished.  DH asked for his own so he could take turns holding DS and not have to bother readjusting my sling every time.  We don't have any need for it right now, but maybe in the future.

Then I made a little hexagon needle book from this tutorial.   I have a picture, but it's still on the camera and hasn't made it on to the computer yet.   I really like it and I have plans to make a few as gifts for the sewers I know.

WIP (Work in Progress)

Well, no pictures yet, but I have been practicing my free motion quilting by quilting a different design in each 4-patch block of the blue/tan/white quilt.  I have 6 blocks left and then I hope to sew the binding on before Saturday.   We might be going to my SIL's house on Saturday and last week she was asking me some questions about how to quilt and bind a wallhanging kit she wasnts to make.  If I can get the quilting done, I'll take it with me to her house so she can see how the whole thing goes together.

After that quilt is finished, I plan to work on our bed quilt again.  It seems to take a lot more time to piece because I have to square up each block after each piece is added (the center is a large medallion star made up of eight diamond log cabin blocks - the diamond shape means I have to square things up to keep the correct angle for the next row.)  I've decided to start a crib quilt and use those pieces as my leaders-enders while working on our bed quilt.

Hopefully I'll have a few pictures of a finished lap quilt to show next post.

Yet another busy weekend

So yet another weekend has come and gone and we have packed it as full as possible.   Saturday we went down to visit DH's sister and her family in Louisville. 

DS hates to have his picture taken lately, but he loves to take the pictures himself.   DS got ahold of the camera and I helped him take this picture of Daddy after supper on Saturday.

Sunday was Pentacost and the church we went to had all the readings read in another language and then followed by English.  I was told they used Russian, German and Greek.  It was kind of interesting, but I was confused at first until I realized this was something sepcial planned for Pentacost.

After lunch we made a quick visit to DH's brother's house to see some new improvements that they made in their yard, including a new playset and couple of compost bins.

We drove home and got back in town just in time for dinner at my niece's birthday party.  Then, we left early and stopped at a graduation party before finally getting home around 8:45 on Sunday evening.   I can't wait for a quiet evening at home.  All the chores can wait, I want to sit down and sew or watch a couple shows or just spend time with DH and DS.

Other happenings

So this blog was really supposed to be about the everyday things in our life but has lately become only updates on my quilting projects.  So here is a new post to get back on track.

We finally have grass again!  The drainage holes we dug have been filled in with gravel and covered over with top soil.  Most of the clay soil has been removed and we put down grass seed a couple weeks ago.  Right afterwards, it rained for several days and while the drainage holes helped, there was still standing water for several days so we were afraid the seed was all drowned out.    I'm glad it wasn't, otherwise I would start seriously thinking about making a yard out of moss.  (I'm still considering the moss for the around around the rain barrels).

The garden DH built for me is working out well.  It's only 2 feet deep so it very easy to reach in and weed, or train the peas to climb the strings.  The plants are doing well and for now there is enough dirt to accommodate DS's constant digging.

My parents are getting ready to make an offer on a house.  It will need a little remodeling to fit our family but there will be plenty of room.   The backyard ends at an open field - great for baseball and football games.  My parents know several other families very close by so I think they will really like the area.

I took DS to the zoo on Saturday.  We got there right as they opened and  left before the day got too hot.  DS lead the way and took us down this path to the Wildlife Canyon just as they started letting people feed the camels.   I think we spent at least 20 minutes there and he probably gave the camels 8-10 treats.   Not many people were down there so the keepers were very generous with the camel snacks.

Now it's time for DS to go to bed so I will stop my blogging for tonight.

Progress

So, after several weeks and 748 seams, 816 triangles became 272 squares...

...which became 136 rectangles...

...which became 68 5.5" blocks.

These 68 blocks will become the border for the Queen sized quilt I'm working on.     Now if I could just get the center of the quilt done...

June Blocks

Here are my blocks for the June Block Lotto drawing.  I still have not won after 5 months.  But the way I figure it, people only win once every seven months, so I still on pace.