PrairiePieces

2011-07-23T11:27:00.000-07:00

Oh my...finally getting back over here and I can't believe it's been more than a year since I've last posted! Time flies...no matter if you're having fun or not. :~O

This summer has been horrendous as far as weather...we are now into WEEKS of temperatures over 100 degrees and little to no rain. There was no wheat crop to harvest because of drought and it looks like no corn either. Even the corn that has been irrigated didn't make it because of the heat.

Summer is more least favorite season and I think I hate it worse every year. I've been trying to stay indoors as much as possible and have even missed some of Will's baseball games that were scheduled in the afternoon. Baseball season is now over and I think even the kids are happy not to have to play in this heat. Unfortunately football practice will be starting in about 3 weeks...hopefully they won't have to practice in the triple digits.

I have not done any sewing lately, but I have been doing some counted cross stitch. I finished a very old (several years) project and started a new kit. It's nice to just park myself in the recliner in the basement (nice and cool there) and stitch while watching TV.

I've been thinking about starting a new quilting/sewing project. The trouble is that I change my mind about once a week on what project to start. My latest thought is this Christmas wallhanging pictured. Maybe working on a Christmas project might make me feel cooler, haha.

2010-06-18T14:31:00.000-07:00

Etsy has put out a survey and if you take just a few minutes to answer some questions you have a chance to win one of five iPads. It's for anyone, even if you are not an Etsy buyer or seller. You can find the survey link on the Etsy blog . I would love to have one of those iPads and a handmade case would be icing on the cake!

2010-06-16T11:49:00.000-07:00

Wow...I cannot believe that it's been so long since I've been here to post. My last post says "Happy Fall" and here it is summer already! Since my last post we have moved to town, moved my dad from the nursing home to an apartment and moved my daughter and grandson into our old home. Add in Christmas, me taking a CNA course, babysitting for my grandson and the usual sports activities for my youngest son....time has really flown for me! I promise to try and do better...as well as try and get back into my sewing more.

I like living in town, though Tom, my husband does not. He is just a good 'ole country boy through and through and is having trouble adjusting to all the noise. We may be having a serious conversation in the future about moving back to the country, but we'll be here for at least until Will is finished with High School.

I still don't have a real room of my own for sewing here in the new house, but I'm planning on moving the sewing machine to a permanent spot either in the extra bedroom upstairs or in the basement. I just need to get busy and decide exactly where, although I am leaning towards the bedroom.

I FINALLY finished the binding on the Bonnet Girls quilt and I think it turned out quite well for never having done the scalloped bias binding before. It feels great to have that finished!! I do have to make a label yet for it...still thinking on it, as I want it to be special, but not too labor intensive.

I'm still pondering on what my next project will be. I do know it will be one of my many UFOs, probably either a Kansas Troubles quilt that will fit in with the colors in my living room or a small quilt from the alphabet block swap I did awhile back.

Gotta run for now...time for some errands. Hope you are all having a great summer so far!

2009-09-22T11:05:00.000-07:00

HAPPY FALL!!

Wow, I can't believe that today is the first day of fall already! Hooray...my most favorite season (probably because it comes right after my least favorite). But I really can't complain about summer and the heat this year, as we didn't have much hot weather at all this summer. And the last couple of weeks it's been fairly cool with not much sun. We've even had a lot of fog, which is pretty unusual.

I also can't believe it's been so long since I posted here. The baseball team ended up going to the state championship and took 4th (no trophy). Football practice was scheduled to start a week or so after baseball ended, so all we got for a vacation was a quick trip to Table Rock Lake at Branson. It was really nice there, too...not too hot and not very humid and we had a great time.

I haven't had any time to do any sewing the past couple months..I really need to get into my sewing room and get my table cleaned off so that I CAN sew if I get the chance. I've been putting off getting the Bonnet Girl's binding on....possibly because I've never done a bias binding on a scalloped quilt. Maybe tonight I can get some research done on that and get busy. While in front of the TV, of course!

2009-07-18T08:17:00.000-07:00

Run, run, run....

I've been running here and running there and everywhere! And have not been getting any sewing done. :~(

Today we are going to Plainville ( more than an hour and a half one way) for the sub-regional baseball tournament. The boys play 2 games today and at least one tomorrow, depending how well they do, so we are packing an overnight bag and may stay the night. If they make it to the top 5, we may be in Goodland next weekend.

The Bonnet Girl Quilt has been quilted and I have it now to do the binding....not sure when I'm going to be able to start that, but I don't think I have a deadline. The quilting is nice, but not exactly what I would've chosen. They outlined the girls and then all the rest is lines and angles...I think I would've used some ropes or braids in some of the borders, but they didn't ask me. Ha! I will try and post pictures of some of the quilting when I get a chance.

2009-06-13T11:55:00.000-07:00

What a week....and not a very good one, unfortunately. We had a sudden, senseless death in our family last Friday night. The funeral was Wednesday and I got really behind with everything around here.

Today I'm going to work on the second set of blocks for the pink and Brown Swap. I'm anxious to get these two sets of blocks finished and out of here!

2009-06-04T18:27:00.000-07:00

MORE pink and brown blocks.....

Here are two more fabric variations of my basket block. I'm not sure about the brown background in the first picture...might be a bit dark. But I didn't have any lighter medium toned browns, so it'll have to do. Although I hate to say it, I think I like the feathered pink background a little better than the paisley pink (yesterday's post).

But anyhow, all 12 basket blocks for the swap are finished!! I was going to make a set of 4 for myself, but I got tired of paper piecing. Next I'm moving on to a set of brown and pink pinwheel blocks for the same swap. They should go more quickly as they are not paper pieced.

I'm going to trim up the basket blocks and then tear the paper off while I'm watching The Mentalist.

2009-06-03T15:45:00.001-07:00

Another Pink and Brown Block.....

Here it is a week after my last post and I finally got another pink and brown basket block finished for the swap. I found a different pattern that was all one piece and added the extra strip in the basket...I like this one much better since I don't have to piece the handle part on.

I'm not quite sure if I should do all the rest in this same mix of fabric or not. I think it's the pink paisley background that I'm not quite sure of...is it too busy? It is a bit brighter in person than it shows on my monitor. But I do love paisley!

2009-05-27T18:46:00.000-07:00

I'm back in the saddle again....

(that old song keeps running through my head) But I guess it really should be "I'm back at the sewing machine again". I finally got my sewing machine up and running and pieced the backing for the Bonnet Girl quilt. The quilt is now at the quilt shop to be quilted and I will get it back afterwards to do the binding. The scalloped bias binding will be another thing that I've never done before. But, I guess it's always good to learn something new, right?

Next on my to-do list is to get the pink and brown blocks finished up. By now I've probably forgotten how to paper piece and I'll have to take the time for a refresher lesson. I need to check and see when the due date is for getting those in to swap hostess. I know it's in June...I'm just hoping it's NOT June 1st!

It's almost 9 p.m., so I'm off to find a comfy spot on the couch and watch The Unusuals.

2009-05-11T16:38:00.000-07:00

Too quiet in the sewing room!

It's been very quiet in the sewing room the past couple of weeks. I haven't even unpacked everything I took to the quilt retreat, not even my sewing machine.

I've been busy mostly with my 80 year old dad, who had surgery for rectal cancer on April 30th in Wichita, which is a 3 hours drive (one way) from here. I stayed several days before, during and after his surgery and then brought him back home last Thursday. The news wasn't especially good, the cancer had spread to 2 of his other lymph nodes and he'll have to have chemotherapy. He was hoping to go back and live independently in his apartment, but it doesn't look like that's going to be happening. I've been a bit down and also have been putting off discussing the facts with him.

Well, I really need to go piece the backing for my aunt's Bonnet Girl quilt, as she's taking it to be quilted sometime in June. Then I've got to get my sewing cleaned up so that I begin some much needed Quilt Therapy for myself.

2009-04-26T18:47:00.000-07:00

Pink and Brown Block Swap

While I was at the quilt retreat I got a start on some blocks for my current Internet block swap. The swap is for pink and brown 6" blocks and I signed up for 2 different sets of blocks, Pinwheel and Basket. I got 5 of the paper pieced basket blocks done before I got tired of working on them (7 more to go for this set). They weren't difficult, except the handle piece had to be sewed on separately, which was a big PITA. I like the 2 colors of pink, so I think I might alter another pattern so that I can have both pinks, but with the block done in one piece.

I really love a pink and brown color combination...reminds me of Neapolitan ice cream. Yummy!

2009-04-22T17:44:00.000-07:00

My First Quilt Retreat...

has come and gone and it was so much fun! It was 2 full days of friendship, great food, beautiful scenery, shopping and sewing (and very little sleep) and I'm anxious to do it again soon. Flint Oaks Lodge was very nice...just wish it was closer. I worked on some blocks for a block swap and also started some blocks from some of the blue fabric in my stash. Next week is looking to be pretty busy, but I'll try and post some pictures of them soon.

2009-04-14T05:36:00.000-07:00

A fantastic giveaway!!

Not mine, but I stumbled upon a giveaway on Thearica's blog, Pigtails and Quilts . Her daughter is turning 30 and she's giving away 30 FQs in celebration. How generous is that?! So click on over to her blog for a chance to win. Thanks, Thearica!

2009-04-11T12:32:00.000-07:00

Today is Laundry Day :~(

My laundry baskets are overflowing today (again!), so today I am doing laundry. I guess there are worse things...like cleaning the bathroom (yes, I do believe it needs some attention also.)

I haven't done anything quilty the past few days. I am going on my first ever quilting retreat with my Kansas Quilters group next week and I really need to start getting ready for that....at least get started on making my list of things to take. I haven't even decided what projects I'm going to take to work on. It's very tempting to start something new, but with all the UFOs I have around here, I think I'm going to try and finish some of those.

I think I'm going to try and get off this computer so that I can straighten and clear off my sewing table. Then I can dig around and decide what to take to the retreat. (in between loads of laundry)

2009-04-03T18:55:00.000-07:00

J is for Jelly Beans...

I've been a huge swapaholic every since I first found the Internet. Fabric charms, fat quarters, quilt blocks...I just can't resist a good swap. Unfortunately not many of these swapped items get transformed into a completed item. Actually the only one I can think of is the I Spy quilt I made for my son. I really should dig some of those swapped quilt blocks out and work on something.

My latest swap was blocks for the Alphabet Quilt by Dori Hawks on a Yahoo swappers group. I had planned to do 2 letters, so that I would get 2 sets of blocks for 2 quilts, one for each of my grandsons. I ran out of time and ended up only doing one set of blocks, so I guess they will have to share the quilt! I chose the letter J, since my grandson's names are Jayven and Jaxten.

The block was paper pieced and I don't do that often enough, so I had to dig out Carol Doak's book and relearn. I have a pink and brown swap coming up, so I think I'll find another PP block to do while I remember how.

2009-04-01T11:52:00.000-07:00

I'm baaaack.....

...finally! I'd hoped to try for a new post at least every week, but time just seems to fly by me too quickly.

I finally got the Bonnet Girl quilt laid out to take pictures. But, as small as my house it, I still didn't have enough room to get the entire quilt to fit in the picture. My pictures aren't very good, but I'll put a few on here anyway.

Maybe someday I will have the time to read up and figure out how to take great pictures. I've got LOTS of things to fill up those "somedays"!

2009-03-20T15:12:00.000-07:00

DOING A HAPPY DANCE!

I get to do a little happy dance because I finally finished the Bonnet Girl quilt top last night! I haven't gotten a picture taken yet...the thing is so big that I have to push the furniture back (and vacuum) my living room floor to get the whole thing laid out. Hopefully I can do that tomorrow morning and then add a picture here.

Tonight I need to find where I put the ruler/template I bought to make the scallops and also try and get the backing sewn together. More math...:^(

My youngest son (and only one left at home) is 14 and just got his driving learning permit two days ago. Of course, he's very anxious to get those 50 hours of practice driving in, so I let him drive me to town (13 miles) to run some errands. It was my first experience driving with him and I have to say he did pretty well (and luckily our very small town wasn't very busy!).

I'd better go round something up for supper (it's always been supper, not dinner for us out here in the boonies). Have a great evening.

2009-03-19T10:40:00.000-07:00

Procrastination reigns....

at my house. I haven't gotten much accomplished the past week as far as sewing goes. My 5 y/o grandson spent last weekend with us and it took me a couple of days to recover from that...I sure envy him all that energy!

Today I'm finally back to the Bonnet girl quilt and more borders. I should get the 4th one sewn on shortly and then all I will have left is to cut and sew the final 7" border. If I really try, I can get it finished tonight (and if I can stay off the computer and sew).

2009-03-11T17:46:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! (or might that be anyone?) I am now an official blogger...sometimes it takes me awhile to jump on that bandwagon. I'm not sure anyone will find anything I have to say of interest, but I'm giving it a try anyhow.

Life here on the prairie is usually lived in the slow lane, to steal a few words from Bertie, one of my cyber-sisters. There is nothing very exciting happening here right now, so I will talk about my current project.

I am working on my first "real" job, as in I'm actually getting paid to sew! I am putting together a queen sized quilt top for my aunt. The blocks are vintage Bonnet Girls and were hand embroidered and appliqued by my deceased grandmother decades ago. Her workmanship is exquisite and I wish this quilt was being passed down to me. But I am happy to be making this for my cousin and hopefully I can end up keeping at least one of the extra blocks.

This is also the most complex and largest quilt I've ever made and it's quite a challenge to find a large area in my very small house to lay the top out for measuring. The blocks started at about 8.5" and borders were added to enlarge the blocks to 10.5". I also added sashings and am now adding the third of five borders. I am very math challenged, so all these borders and figuring how to cut them is really giving my brain a workout!

Well, that's about all I have to say for now. Hopefully I will get Auntie's quilt top finished in a couple of days and be able to show you a picture.

If you've stumbled upon this, please leave a comment and let me know I'm not talking to myself!