Saturday Sampler Indecisions

Yup! I should have had the quilt top put together by now, but have run into a snag of indecisiveness... 

Blocks on point (as was planned), maybe not...???

On point? Display wall not big enough to show all... 

You'll noticed I had framed each block... (at the retreat)

 It will be too big a quilt... 

Would fit my king-size bed, but this quilt was planned for the guest bed... I have "specifically chosen" fabrics sitting in the wings, waiting to be made into a quilt for my bed...

Not on point? 

Have 5 blocks that have to be set on point, but still have these 20 blocks that could make a good sized quilt for the guest bed... The 5 on point blocks could be made into a nice wall-quilt... 

hmmmm.... what to do...?

Playing with the blocks on my display wall still, 

but hope to get stitching on it today...

Myra

Sharing the quilting knowledge...

Friend B, a sewer for years, has wanted to learn how to quilt for quite a while, so Saturday we got together to make a simple table topper...

A great project for learning on...

B picked from my "playful" Christmas fabrics. That is the top of the project on the spare table I set up for her...

I should have taken a photo of B with her machine...

Next weekend, she will come over to learn how to put the layers together, machine quilt, and maybe even get to the binding...

We were going to do some machine applique (like I did on this project and this project) too, but we feel that there is enough happening visually...

Will show you the completed table topper when B is done! 8-)

Another quilter in the making!!!

Happy stitchings!

Myra

Did some machine work today...

Yup! Got to making the pillowcases!!!

Woohoo progress!!! 8-)

I got 3 of 4 made today, so I am pleased...

I didn't find suitable "fish" fabric to put into Mr & Mrs Rose's "Nature" quilt, but found this fish fabric and thought it would make cute pillowcases for them... 8-)

Still one more turtle pillowcase to finish tomorrow...

DD2 LOVES turtles...

My wrist is feeling some better today, but I will rest it for one more day before trying to finish the last 5 feet of binding...

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

Myra

On the home stretch stitching...

... but will be leaving it for a day or 2...

I had hoped to finish off the last of the binding on this queen size quilt today, but during my "4th corner" it became too much. A pain in my wrist I've never had before. Tensor bandage not a help either... 8-(

Time to do some machine work...

Here I sit in my Lazyboy chair, with good lighting, a fur-girl on each side of me, all under the quilt, snug and warm.

Tis a tight fit, but be we are comfy!!! 8-)

It is miserable outside today again, so I not only missed out on my CCC group last night, but our Wonky Bits group canceled our gathering today too...

Stay safe, stay warm!

Myra

My poor pup Ruby...

Ruby had hives 2 nights ago...and I've had little sleep since then...

I noticed bumps that appeared out of nowhere on Ruby's back around 10pm, and thought "hmmm... a visit to the vets in the morning..."

Then a half hour later I noticed her scratching, and swelling on her face, and thought, "HIVES"!

After talking to my Vet (she thinks maybe a spider or ant bite from the basement?), and giving Ruby some of Dora's Prednisone and Antihistamines (wasp/bee bites), the hives took their time disappearing. Ruby was restless and itchy for most of the night, plus still had a bit of the runs that come with such reactions, so very little sleep for both of us... I gave her some more Antihistamine yesterday morning, and she seemed fine for the day... Then... last night was filled with more restlessness for Ruby, the runs and vomiting... SHEESH!
I feel like a walking zombie, and Ruby is restless today so far... 8-(

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I am on the home stretch with A&A's quilt! Three corners done!!
Should have been done weeks ago!!! Tsk-Tsk!

Pillowcases to make yet, which was today's plan,
but being a zombie we'll see...

It is our Row Robin Exchange night again at CCC tonight.

I got my row finished in the 7th box I've had on Monday morning. It turned out well, and I am very pleased with it... We shall see what I come home with in the 8th (of 9) box I will be coming home with tonight... Maybe some show & tell too... 8-)
Update: Bad weather, stayed home... 8-(

Have a great day friends...

Myra

A quilt Guild Evening...

 I went as a guest to our city's quilt guild meeting on Friday... I used to be a member about 3 years ago... My gals are trying to talk me into joining again, so they took me as a guest...

Here are a few photos I snapped throughout the evening...

Wonderful quilts to see, and very talented ladies there....

 This quilt was done by a young girl of about 10-11...

with help from her gram... 8-)

Thanks for inviting me out for the evening m'ladies! I had a wonderful time, but I'll pass on the membership, and continue to enjoy our small, weekly gatherings... 8-)

 

Myra

SNOW!

 Snow, it all came last night... I think this is here to stay now... Yuck!

But the sun is shining today! Yay! Haven't seen it for about a week.

Mrs.Farmer was here last night. Here is the yummy Spinach Salad with Raspberry vinaigrette  we had... (plus chicken and Potatoes Romanoff...) Double yum!!!

 So colorful, when life outside is not right now...

Snow... a good day to stay inside and sew...

Myra

CCC Sew, Show & Tell...

  Here is a better photo (borrowed from Jr), than what I took at the retreat, of Ed's awesome Quilt. This gal does not consider herself a quilter... HA!!! She is a great "sewer", but only makes a quilt at our retreats... Ed is a quilter!!! Darn rights! 8-)

 This is Sg's table topper that she was trying out her machine quilting skills on... She did a wonderful job! 8-)

 Vh's creation from a Mystery Class she took on the weekend... Love the fabrics! 8-)

 This is Yn's from the same class.  Very Christmasy Y!!! Love it! 8-)

 This is Pg's creation from a class a month ago. Love it!!! I believe the choices were a purse, tote bag, or this table topper, with the same applique design... I think Pg will fill in the blanks in my comment box... 8-)

 One of 2 quilt tops that Sd and her husband made this past week... Very quick to put together she says... 

 ... well, if hubby is doing the cutting, and she is doing the sewing, it is bound to go quickly... And here is the second quilt top!!!

 Anyone want to know where you can find a "fabric cutter DH"? Wish mine were one!!! Lucky Sd!!! Looking good Sd and Dd!!! 8-)

Happy stitchings!

Myra

What I am up to this week...

I went to my Country Rose quilt group last night, we had a great time, but there was no show and tell to share with you today...

Going to my CCC quilt group tonight, so I may have something to share tomorrow...

Been working on row 7 of our Row Robin project... Sorry, I can't show you what I've been doing yet (secret)... I promise I will show you all 9 projects in February, when the group has had the big "Row Robin Reveal" weekend retreat... 8-)

A YouTube video, "The Vocal People"... Do check it out, and while you are there, check out this video by them also... They sound awesome!! 8-)

We had a light sprinkle of snow overnight,

but nothing that would stay just yet!!!

Myra

Easy Tasty Cauliflower Soup...

 First I have to show you what my my DH commented about today... 

"The middle of November, & I have a Dandelion on my front yard!!!"

 Normally we have at least 3-5 inches of snow by now...

 Now for the soup!!!8-)

I saw this cooked on the TV a couple of weeks ago, and have made it twice now. I started cooking up the bacon today and thought, "I should photograph this for posting/sharing later!" Especially such an easy recipe! 8-)

Right... 1/4 lb. bacon (I used 1/3 lb this time)

I'm not good with metric weight... sorry... 8-(

This is the other ingredients.

1 quart or 900 L Chicken Broth

1 onion

1 large whole cauliflower

1 Jalapeno pepper (I used 2 of them today)

 After frying up the bacon a bit add your chopped onion...

 Once onion is some translucent, add chopped Jalapeno pepper.

 Then add the Chicken Broth right away...

 ...and the large Cauliflower florets.

 Stir...

 

 Cover, bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

 Cool for about 15-30 min with the lid off...

 Put through the blender (forgot to snap a photo), puree, and you have "Cream of Cauliflower Soup" without any dairy or flour in it. So, it is a great soup for those with allergies or stomach problems...

 Serve right away, or cool and reheat to serve later...

In bowls, top with some grated Cheddar Cheese... 

Nice and creamy! YUM!!! 8-)

Enjoy!

Myra

Wonky Bits Sew & Tell...

 First up, Kn's "Curved Piecing" sample place-mat (she was binding them) that Kn was tutoring us on...

 Es never uses her good fabics when trying something new..She just grabs a few pieces of fabric... Something I should do when trying something new... 8-)

 Es' trial finish... She did great! 8-)

 Jb was trying it out with Christmas fabrics...

 Jb did a great job too!!! Needs trimming up...

 I chose to observe as I am still working on the binding of Mr/Mrs.Rose"s quilt... plus I don't like dragging my machine around. I will do my trial some rime soon...

Es' D-I-L put together her first quilt top, all on her own.

I think she did a great job of piecing, and did wonderful with her fabric choices/combination!!! 8-)

Es was so proud of her that she just had to bring it along to show us Wonky Bits ladies... 8-) 

That be it for now...

Myra

Half-Square Triangles...HSTs

Peg's comment, "One of my bug-a-boos is those *** triangles - somehow they always end up out of square!! Got any tips?" 

Well, I don't think any of this is new, but I'll show you what I did for my November block. This may be new to someone...

I cut out two 2+7/8" squares of fabrics.

Then I draw a line, corner to corner.

Then I stitch a scant  1/4" seam from the line on one side...

... and another "scant"  1/4" seam on the other side of the line.

I end up with this...

I cut on the drawn line, and have two triangles...

It is very important to set the seams with the iron at this point. Doing this sets the stitch line into the fabric, which aids in a finished crisp seam. 

 At many retreats, I see a lot of quilters omit this step.

Then I open the triangle, iron a nice crisp seam, and I have one of two HSTs. I check to make sure I haven't ironed a fold in close to the seam, which would reduce the size of the HST.

Now I check to see if I've got the proper 2+1/2" finished HST.

 You can see I have a tad to cut off. This is because I used a scant 1/4". It is better to have some to trim off at this point, than to be short... I make sure my diagonal line on my ruler is on my seam line before I cut...

My trimmed HST. Oops! My ruler shifted when I grabbed my camera, and didn't notice till my photos were on the comp...

... and here is the 2+1/2" HST.

Sewing the two HSTs together... 

 I made sure my seam was just shy of a 1/4". When you have a lot of pieces like this in a block, you can easily loose 1/8" to 1/2" in your finished block.

Two joined HSTs... Measures 2+1/2" x 5+1/2"...

 

 In this sample I used two 2+7/8" squares, to end up with two 2+1/2" HST sections, like in my November block.

There was a lot of dense seams/intersections on that block, so it is equally important on how you direct the seams while sewing. and then pressing, so the block lays as flat as possible and hopefully end up the correct size... I lucked out on this block!

 In my September block, I started off with two 4+7/8" to get two 4+1/2" HSTs.

In this October block I started off with two 3+7/8" to get two 3+1/2" HSTs.

I hope this info is helpful to some of you quilting blog readers...

Happy stitchings...

Myra