Sunday, November 30, 2014

November Quilt Update

I have moved the previous posts to the end of the entry.  I hope that you make it that far.

Goals:  I have retreat this month --- YAY! -----  AND Black Friday with the start of the mystery quilt -- WOOT!!  ---PLUS time with family for Thanksgiving so scheduling is interesting but we'll give it a shot.

Home
Roll Quilt - nope -- should take this off list until Jan
UFO - Ceramic Tea Set - nope -- dang, really need to get this one done or it is going to become a birthday gift instead
Sandwich, quilt, and bind My Favorite Things (MFT) quilt - yes
Wanderlust (W) Blocks (28 full plus half blocks) - yes
Mark, sandwich, quilt, and bind Sew Squared (SS) quilt  - no but Mister did get the templates done
Sandwich, quilt, bind, and make label for Scrappy Bargello (SB) quilt - yes
Sandwich, quilt, and bind Virginia Bound (VB) quilt - yes
Quilt, and bind Lazy Sunday (LS) quilt - yes
Mark, sandwich, quilt, and bind Peaceful Paisley (PP) quilt - yes
Bookmarks finished - on hold til Jan
Round Robin (RR) blocks (14) pattern and fabrics selected
Clue #1 Grand Illusion (GI) Mystery Quilt worked on - yes, all cut and ready to sew
Wedding Quilt (WQ) blocks prepared, sashings cut, backing/label made, borders cut, binding made - yes
Finish sewing mats - yes
Retreat

Finish any remaining Wanderlust (W) half blocks, do border blocks, and set yes
Set, sandwich, quilt and bind Wedding Quilt (WQ) yes
Make sewing mats - 4 finished, 2 close
Any bindings that need to be hand-stitched as well - worked on PP
Debone all remaining shirts in basket - yes - 12 completed

1st -  OMG It's November!  Hang on for one heck of a month.  I give myself a HUGE talking to this morning when I realize just how long my list is and how little time I have.  There is just no room for lazing around.  Get with it girl.  It's Saturday, which means I am devoted to my sweetie for today and tomorrow.  I won't change that as I have learned the hard way in life where my priorities need to be.  Mister and I go shopping for the materials to refinish my Featherweight table.  I appreciate so much that he is working on this for me.  He is also making me a Big Board!  I am one lucky girl.  Matt sent me a picture from Hyrum's birthday party of him with his quilt.  Makes my heart feel good.



After returning from shopping, Mister starts working on my Big Board, making the little blocks that will keep it from sliding when placed on the ironing board.  I work on the blog to post everything and do a little cleaning around the house.  Still together, but functioning.  Awesome.



2nd -  It is a beautiful Sunday and I am not sure how many of these we have left.  Mister has opted to stay home today and work on the projects so I head out to the studio as well.  I had one item on my list for last month that I really wanted finished and didn't quite get to.  My LS is still sitting on the machine so I attack it with determination and get the whole thing quilted.  Yes, that's right -- doing the happy dance here.  I even stretch it a bit and attach binding/label as well before joining Mister in the house and preparing dinner.



Meanwhile, Mister finished the wood part of the Big Board so it is now waiting for me to put the batting and cover on.  I need to sandwich a few quilts to get a strip to work with as I just don't want to cut any batting that I don't have to.  I have one piece sitting in the leftover pile that is wide enough but need one more.

He also worked on my Featherweight table by sanding it down, staining the top, and applying the first coat onto the sides. as well.  Under all that white paint (do you remember the before picture?  Here's a reminder.) there are scars from a hard life and places that the veneer is almost gone, but I still love her just the same.  Cigarette burn marks almost break my heart, but I tell myself that it just needs some love in it's old age.




Starting to look pretty good, huh?



3rd -  Okay, my work week officially starts today and I absolutely have to keep to the schedule that I have posted at my desk.  After a cup of tea and email check, I grab the MFT top, back, and some batting.  Forty-five minutes, there is a sandwich on the living room floor.  Yes!  Keeping the momentum going, I pick it up and am off to the studio to start the quilting and by noon I have two quadrants completed.  Awesome.  My back and shoulders are talking to me though, so I need to move onto a different project for awhile.

I have fished out my little tub for the Wanderlust quilt and pull out enough pre-made units from class to complete two more blocks.  I now have three out of 28 finished.  No, I am not making them all identical, this is just from the first class.  There will likely be a few the same of each kind, but no one will notice.  Problem is:  no more pre-made blocks and I haven't even cut the rest of the parts out yet.  Hello rotary cutter.  I feel that you and I are going to get pretty close the next couple of days.  I spend the remainder of my afternoon and evening cutting for the corner HST's.  Oh my goodness, there are almost 500 of them in this quilt.  That is near 1000 little triangles.  I may be cutting for awhile and that doesn't even begin to include the required triangles for the flying gees (large and small).  Cut on girl.  Bright spot:  My daughter called and I get to have a couple of grands over New Years.  Awesome.  So stoked.

4th -  Up and at 'em girl.  Let's go.  First thing I head for the studio and finish quilting on MFT.  Since the binding and label are already standing by, I quickly trim the quilt and return to the studio to attach them.

That means that my machine is empty and one of the only ways I will meet these goals is to always have something on the machine this month.  I grab the SB top, back and some batting before making my trek to the living room to sandwich.  An hour later, pins are in and I am ready to load it onto the machine.  Feels so good I can't stop smiling.  I do not have the binding prepared for this one yet, though, so I grab leftover strips from the top and half an hour later, I can mark off that task.  Yay me!.  The rest of the day is spent once again with my Easy Angle ruler cutting out triangles.  Wow.



5th -  It feels good to get the studio quilting time accomplished first each day so that is my destination this morning.  Once bobbins are filled, I set to work and soon have 3 quadrants quilted on SB., I cut a few more strips for my W blocks and then take the rest of the day to spend some time on my sweetie.  He will get to come home to fresh bread and cinnamon rolls.  Lucky guy.  Check out this link for the best cinnamon rolls ever!  Seriously.  Oh, the fabric for the wedding quilt I am going to be working on at retreat arrived today.  Isn't it pretty?

6th -  Only one quadrant is left on SB so let's go get it finished.  Ta da!  I get the binding/label attached and drop the quit into the rapidly growing "binding to be hand sewn down" pile.  I'm gonna have to get to this soon.  The rest of the afternoon is spent cutting for WB.  I have moved on from just the HST's and have cut it all.  Finally, I can start sewing the units.

 7th -  My goodness, I am pretty pleased to look at something today other than colors that make my eyes goes wonky.  Subdued is good.  I start the morning by sandwiching PP and thought I would show you how I do that.  I tape the back down using painter's tape.  Then I lay the batting on top followed by the flimsy.  At that point I use pins to baste and THEN and only then do I pull the tape off.  I spend some time determining if I can FMQ this quilt and use the patterns that came with the kit.  I decide to go for it and thus no marking.  I am one happy girl with that decision.

I finally get to start sewing on my HST's for W and am back to bright colors again.  I get all the corner HST's finished (not the border block ones) and move on to starting the first half of the "white" large geese.  Triangles, triangles, triangles everywhere.  When Mister arrives home from work, he goes outside to put a second coat of the black on my Featherweight table while I pick up the LS quilt and finish off the binding.  It is Finished!  OMG, that makes two mysteries finished.  First Celtic Solstice and now Lazy Sunday.  That leaves me with Wanderlust to finish before Grand Illusion starts.  I will give it a valiant effort but will be perfectly happy if it is finished before the New Year's classes in Plano and another one gets started.



8th -  The weekend is here and that means time with Mister!  I so look forward to these days.  After being together every single day for over 2 years, it is still feels odd to me when he leaves for work each day.  We are off to an estate sale this morning that features a ton of fabric and sewing supplies.  It is the last day of the sale though, so I figure most of it is gone,  When we arrive, I am pretty correct in that a lot of things are gone.  There is still quite a bunch of fabric, but I hold back.  As I wander out to the garage, I spot a new scooter for Mister's mom and after a great deal of discussion with her and Mister's brother, we purchase it for her.  The next sale nets us a new Ottlite for Mister as well.  We spend the rest of our time in McKinney and you can check out the link here.  One stop is at Happiness is Quilting, a lovely little quilt shop where I find a neutral batik on sale.  We have a great day and then return home to get a few things finished before dark.

Mister goes straight out to put a coat of varnish on my Featherweight table while I get a few other things finished.  I settle in for the evening with SB in my lap and the binding is finished before bed time.  Ta da!  Yep, I still cringe at this one but at least it is in the finished column, wavy edges and all.


9th - I wake before Mister and grab the MFT quilt, some thread and a needle before making myself comfortable in the den.  I really would like to finish the binding on it this morning and so I enjoy the morning sounds outside while stitching away.  When Mister wakes, he makes some tea for both of us and sits to visit with me while I take the final stitches.  And another one is in the "Done" column.  What a great start to the day!



It's nice out and we are expecting the weather to turn this week so Mister wants to try and finish the Featherweight table.  As he heads outside to work on it, I follow to gather supplies to finish the Big Board.  I need two layers of batting and two layers of fabric.  I locate one that has a faux quilt on it and also some muslin.  Both of these fabrics were in my treasure trove from the thrift store.  Thinking I will put the faux quilt fabric on the outside, I press it and discover that there are some stains on it.  Drat.  Can I work around them?  Once pressed, I take the fabric, batting, and Board into the house to work.  Using the Board as a pattern, I cut out the fabric and batting to make a 4-layer sandwich.  I am just not happy with the faux print so it goes inside the muslin.

Mister has today's first coat of varnish on the table, then comes in to help me attach the fabric to my board.  With his trusty staple gun in hand, we have it all battened down in no time.  Yes!  This is turning into a productive day.  Another project in the finished column.  I love it and can't wait to use it at retreat.  (See the faux print?)



Mister returns to the driveway in the hopes of putting on one final coat of varnish before it gets too cool or dark.  Daylight saving time is definitely making a difference as he works quickly.  I let him be and aim for the kitchen to make dinner.  When it is complete, I go hunting for Mister and find him in the studio working on one of the two-tone 301 machines.  He has it in bits and pieces.  I can't wait until one of them is totally ready to use.  I want to put her into the new cabinet we bought and start sewing with her.  I love that Mister has set up  his new light and is using it as well.

10th -  Happy Monday!  I'm alone again and determined to make some headway on the units for Wanderlust.  Me, Barbara (my beloved Featherweight), and lots of orange/white triangles get to work.  They turn into geese and are finished.  I then turn to the HST's and soon they are all ironed and so I tackle the tiny geese.  Oh my, these are small pieces to work with but I manage to complete that task as well.  What a colorful mess I have in the office.

I need to put in some time out in the studio so off I go.  Selecting thread, filling bobbins, plotting how to quilt PP, and attaching a walking foot is soon behind me.  What am I waiting for?  Oh, dang --- if I do something other than free motion meandering, I get nervous and I am one nervous girl right now.  Oh well, let's dive in.  After a couple of hours, I have quilted around each block and inside each border.  That's enough stress for one day.  I think some pressing is a nice, de-stressing activity and an hour later all the geese are pressed and their dog ears trimmed.  I am calling it a day.

11th -  It's official!  I have lost the office.  It is buried under projects and I just know that there are probably bills in some of these piles.  I am also betting that some of those bills need to be paid -- therefore, I tell myself that I must clean this room AND get the finances in order before sewing today.  Ugh.  It takes me a couple of hours, but oh my, I feel so much better when the job is over.  Let's go to the studio and see if we can take care of that good feeling and replace it with some stress.  Two hours later, I have quilted about 3/4 of the cream sashings.  This is exhausting.  Enough for today.  I am back to tiny pieces instead.  Today's mission:  the tiny center stars of my blocks.  Since the small geese are finished, all that is left is to put all the parts together.  It goes well and soon I have a nice little stack of stars.  I then trim dog ears off all of the HST's and sew them into pairs. (Untouched photo)  It's time to get ready for the evening.  We are going to the 12 Days of Christmas at the Arboretum.  Check out the blog post here.


12th -  It is definitely cool outside today.  I think I'll stay inside and work.  Top it off with the fact that I am lacking motivation today - going out to work on PP just doesn't seem to be in the cards.  I decide that I am going to try and kit up my WQ project for the retreat.  This means that I have to print the photographs onto my fabric and I have never tackled this before.  I am being the little engine again -- I think I can, I think I can.  First step is to cut out some of the white Kona cotton the same size as an 8 1//2" x 11" piece of paper.  Then I cut the same thing from the freezer paper and press them together.  Oh my, wonder of all wonders -- it works.

It's time for the printer.  After determining that I have to manually load the "paper", I print the first one.  It looks pretty good --- especially since it is printed on the freezer paper!  Bang head on wall and start over.  My second attempt works and I have a photo on fabric.  Oh happy dance.  I may be able to pull off this gift after all.  Woot Woot!  I cut the remainder of the pieces of fabric and freezer paper and decide to wait to show Mister before printing others.  I have to admit that I am pretty excited though.  Now, is is time to sew something so I make 4-patches from the HST's before Mister gets home.  The evening is spent finishing those up while watching Quilt-cam.  I am calling this day a huge success.

13th -  Okay I am ready to tackle the rest of the pictures for my WQ.  Question is -- is my printer ready?  Yep.  Everything goes like clockwork and I soon have the rest of my pictures finished.  I still need Mister to scan in the invitation so that I can use it in the label, but I am getting there for sure.

Now -- I really need to focus on the Wanderlust blocks.  I have stacks of fabric everywhere in various stages and need to put SOMETHING together.  I start in with the half blocks as I only need 4 of these.  Start small right so that I can feel as though I have accomplished something.   Success.  Not perfect but then neither am I and I am okay with that.  I start on the border blocks since I need 44 of them and they are small than the full blocks.  Makes sense right?


I get going on them and soon, I have them finished and spend the evening tackling the big blocks for the quilt.  Perhaps I will have this ready for retreat after all.  I also make a trip to the studio in search of backing and binding fabric for VB -- this IS going to happen this month -- I hope.  See how quick my confidence went down?


 14th -  Mister has scanned in my last two items for the WQ that need to be printed so I make that my first task today.  However, apparently my printer has a different idea in mind.  The first one I run through gets eaten but I am able to pull it through and there is just a small black line on the fabric.  It needs a new paper back so I press and try again since I am printing something that is smaller and won't use the whole page.  Perhaps it will miss the line?  Nope. Start over.  I move on to the second piece that I prepared yesterday and once again it gets chewed up.  I think the problem is that I attached the freezer paper yesterday to be ready for today and it has not held well.  I redo some fabric and paper squares, press, and start again.  Voila -- success.  I am now finished with this stage of preparation for this quilt.

Time for more blocks.  The rest of the DAY and into the evening (It's Friday night and we have opted to stay and watch television,) is spent on the Wanderlust blocks.  I do it!   Finis!  Yay me.  I can't believe that I will be able to set this at retreat.  After a quick fabric search, I discover that I do not have enough orange in any one color for the small border between the main center and the border blocks on the top.  Drat.


15th - I asked Mister if we could go for coffee this morning and he readily agreed.  After a mug of joe and breakfast taco, we make a stop at the quilt shop to purchase some orange batik for the small border on W and I am lucky enough to find one that will work perfect.  Now -- time to go home and spend the day kitting everything up for retreat.  I prep the border for W and even cut the binding as well.  I still need a backing fabric for it.  I throw in the scraps so that I can make the border as leader enders while setting it at retreat.  Now for the WQ -- after trying to destroy both Mister and my brains, we finally have the sizes for the remaining pieces determined.  Oh that hurt.  I then hit the cutting mat and kit everything up for this project, including the batting and thread.  I am ready.  That gives me two wonderful projects to work on.  Do I need more?  Well, I have had a sewing mat idea and fabric sitting around since last retreat and decide to kit it and do it as well.  That turned into kitting up seven - yep you read that right - I figure they will make good gifts.  Why can't I ever just do something easy?  Always gotta make it difficult and stressful.  Just me.  While I work on the mat kits, Mister spends some time in the studio finishing the Featherweight table and working on the two-tone 301.  Good day.

16th - The days before retreat are rapidly flying by and I still have several items on my "must finish before leaving" list.  Today's mission - should I choose to accept - is to prepare VB for quilting but before I start.  Mister wants to see what my sweet Barbara will look like in her table.  Oh so sweet, don't you think?  Not just the table, but that man of mine as well.  Okay, let's get going.  First up, a back for VB which simply consists of some solids pieced together.  (I think I need to clean the lens on my camera - no white dot on the fabric)



Onto a sandwich.  Yum.



Some binding and a label for VB complete my day of sewing.  The rest of the evening I have my nose to the grindstone working on blog pages.  My personal life got a little behind.  I bet that doesn't happen to anyone else who is reading this.

17th -  It's a new day!  I am off to the studio with firm determination to finish the quilting on PP.  Success!  How good does this feel?  Oh my.  This one was hard because of the directional straight line quilting that required me to continuously shove the quilt around 90 degrees when reaching a corner.  My shoulders are killing me but I love the result.  I know me and if I leave this studio before attaching the binding I will most likely have a tough time returning.  Therefore --- I quickly trim the top, square it up and get that binding on there.  I have been in the studio ALL day and am tired of looking at this quilt, but it is ready for binding AND in time for Quilt-cam,


I grab the last BOM kit that I have and complete the first 4 blocks for Making Waves while watching Bonnie work her magic on screen.  Feeling accomplished tonight.

18th -  With determination I start my day putting VB on the machine and get 1 1/2 quadrants quilted before it dawns on me that I am so very tired today.  Leaving the studio, it's a bubble bath and nap for me.  Unheard of but apparently needed.

After Mister returns from work, he unloads the trunk of our car and cleans it so that I can take it to retreat.  He is then ready give Annie and Barbara their spa treatments so I quickly finish my quadrants on VB and surrender my machines to his loving hands.  I, in turn, head for the kitchen to prepare dinner for the spa attendant.  Look at how beautiful Barbara looks.  Oh my.  She is ready to go.

I peek in on Mister and he says to see if the two-tone 301 he has been working on runs.  It's so funny because he accidently cleaned the wrong machine and we don't even know if the motor on this one works.  It is the one we picked up in Waxahachie for $19.00 simply because it had the bobbin case and we were short one.  So, I plug it in and low and behold -- she runs.  He needs to adjust tension and replace a few more items before she is ready to use.  How cool is this?  She is not perfect looking, but I'll love her just the same.  Now for a name.



On his way home from work, Mister stopped at Tandy Leather and picked up a small strip to replace the worn pieces on the cradle of the Featherweight table.  With deft hands and a few tools, he is ready to go.  I love that he has thought about this for awhile and now has a plan.  It is the same thing I do with planning my quilts --- lots of thought before action.

Here is a before shot:



And after:  perfect.



 19th -  My machines are off limits today as they are all relaxing from their spa treatment yesterday.  My job for the day is to clean the house, bake cookies, pack for retreat AND take my mother-in-law and nephew to dinner.  By the time Mister and his mother arrive at the house I am one tired girl BUT my house is immaculate and there are treats for Mister to go with the food I prepared earlier in the week.  He will be able to survive without me.   HAHAHAHAHA  Anyone who knows us will understand how terribly funny that is.



20th - Retreat Day!  I can't believe it is finally here.  We have been planning this one since May.  I am so very excited.  The car was loaded last night after we returned home and I am dropping Mister off at work before driving to Rainbow, Texas.  As I drive onto the property, I already feel the pressure of everyday life lifting and although it is replaced with a bit of nervousness, I am thrilled to be here.  Unloading my car and setting up my station is first on my agenda and then I grab a seat on the porch to enjoy my lunch before the first of the ladies arrive.  This place is so beautiful and reminds me of places back in Montana.  (If you want to read more about our retreat please check out this post.)



Soon, ladies are arriving (yay - for awhile I worried that no one would show up) and I set to helping everyone unload their cars, find their rooms, and claim a territory in the work area.  The majority of people are here so I settle in to sew for awhile.  It's time for me to get to work on my WQ and within no time I have the blocks made and put together.  I find that my measurements from the brain hurting episode earlier in the week are wrong but at least they are too long and not too short.  I get it all fixed, put the blocks together and head for Janet for help.  With her wonderful expertise, a change is made and we turn the sunflower binding into a border and get it attached.  I love it.

Off to the library I go to make a sandwich and now -- drum roll please -- I am going to try and quilt this on my featherweight.  Oh my goodness -- it works and I get to use my little penguin walking foot for the first time.  This is so fun.  I make a decision at the last minute to free motion quilt the border.  Can I do this on my little Featherweight or do I have to move to my 301.  Let's give it a try.  OMG -- it works beautifully.  All I do is change the stitch length to zero and eliminate all pressure on the presser foot.  She quilts like a dream.  I could not be happier.  I get all of the quilting finished, the sleeve, binding and label attached and am ready to hand stitch it all down.  By 2:30 in the morning I have everything but the sleeve stitched down and call it good for the night.

21st -  With about 5 hours of sleep under my belt, I am up and back at work on WQ.  Within no time I have the sleeve attached and it is finished.  It's perfect! I love it and so hope that my nephew and his wife will feel the same way.  The label contains fabric copies of the wedding invitation.  Gotta admit, That was pure genius.  Check it out.


It's time to move on to new projects.  Since Barbara has turned out to be such a wonderful quilter, let's let her do some more.  I start in on the sewing mats that I cut out and an hour later, behold:  Annie has a mat.  She loves it and so do I.

Taking my stack of cut out mats over to Jen, I ask which one she would like and she makes her decision.  Right after that I tell Stephannie that she may select one as well since it is her birthday tomorrow.  They both select the same fabric and I am soon stitching away on my little black beauty.  I get Jen's binding all stitched down and finished before I decide that I need a break.

My back is bothering me a bit so I settle into a comfy chair and start deboning the stack of shirts that I brought along.  It is after midnight by the time I finish them and have quite a stack of new fabric to work with.  Love it.  I still have 5 shirts to go but will save that for another time.  I want to lay out the Wanderlust blocks in preparation for tomorrow.  As I am doing so, I discover that I am short 4 border blocks.  Seriously?  What am I going to do?  I so wanted to set this top while here.  Oh wait, I have the one block that I made incorrectly.  Do I have any leftover black with me. I do!  I can do this and yes, I have to admit, I did the happy dance in front of everyone.  I will tackle this in the morning though.  (I stole a few of your pictures Debi)


 Back in my chair, I sew the binding down on two more mats and sneak over to Stephannie's machine and put the mat beneath it while she is away.  It doesn't take her long to spot it though.  I am calling it a night at 3 a.m.  Where are the days going and why are they going so fast?

 22nd -  I worked on W ALL day.  It is late into the evening by the time I have my ta-da and several ladies have already gone to bed.  I have to say -- I love it though and am pretty dang pleased with myself for being able to do this.  Yesterday, Kay (the retreat owner) asked if I would make a mat for her daughter that she could give as a gift.  Naturally I said yes and so the rest of the evening is spent doing that and then I debone one more shirt while talking with Stephannie until 3:30 in the morning.  Oh my -- we need some sleep.


 23rd - It is our last day at retreat and there is a certain reluctance on everyone's part to have it end.  I find the calendar for the center and we book the next one for February which helps keep us excited.  In a long line, we march to the front of the building for one group picture before it all comes to an end.


I spend the rest of the morning watching people take pictures, pack up, and leave.  I do finish deboning my last 4 shirts, prep two more mats, and start the binding on PP before I, too, have to give up and pack my things.  So sad but it is definitely time to go home and see Mister.  I have missed him so very much.  When I arrive back home, fall has arrive in my yard.  What a beautiful sight.



24th -  It is a pretty lazy day recovering from retreat.  I do a bit of sleeping and staring at the suitcase that should be unpacked.  However, I do put in about 6 hours finishing the binding and burying threads on PP -- It is done.  And I actually love it.  This one will be hard to give away.



25th -  I have company coming for Thanksgiving and therefore will need to turn my studio into another bedroom.  Do you know what that means?  It means I have to go out there and attempt to unpack from retreat and clean up the sewing machine messes as well.  Work clothes on -- here we go.  As I am out there, I find the templates that Mister made me for another quilt that needs to be finished before Christmas.  Now I can get to marking it.  I moved the 301 table into the house as part of this clean and rearranged the office as well.  Whew.  Do you think it looks better?





My big sewing moment for the day is in attaching the binding to two more sewing mats.  Perhaps these will be finished this month.

26th -  My morning is spent in the studio finishing the quilting on VB, trimming it, and putting the binding on.  I have to give up the studio now and put up a bed for my grandsons out here.  I am happy to do that as I love having a house full of family.  Absolutely would not trade that for anything.  I settle down and hand stitch the binding/label down and bury threads.  Woot woot!  Another one in the DONE column.  Gotta say -- I love this one too.  Ugh.

It's time to dress and walk down to the grocery store to get the supplies for the weekend.  Mister will meet me there and then take me and the food home.  On the way, I stop at the post office and mail the WQ to my nephew and his bride.  The minute I get back home, I realize that I forgot to write on the label.  Really?  OMG.  I send a note to my sister for her to write on it when it arrives.  (I am including this picture here as an update -- My sister sent me a picture of the label.  Seriously?  There appears to be a spelling error and I absolutely have never spelled my name that way.  Goodness.  Lesson learned -- WRITE ON LABEL)

27th - Happy Thanksgiving - Mister and I spend a few minutes in the morning taking outside pics of quilts since we "lost" most of the recent ones.  It's a stack of quilts that heads out the door with us, but there are once more recorded.  The rest of the day is spent with family.  I am a truly blessed woman.

28th - Black Friday - The day has finally arrived!  Since my house is full of family for the holiday weekend and there is even a bed set up in the office, I creep quietly in and peek at my computer oh so early in the morning.  There it is!  The first clue.  I read it quick and then go back to bed to dream of getting started on it.  An hour or so later, I can't stand it anymore so I get up once again and sneak out to the studio (where there are also people sleeping) and quietly get my fabric and rulers.  Back to the office cutting table -- quietly.  I only get a few triangles cut before people wake up and the day starts.  Oh well.  We make a trip to the Arboretum and then off to soccer games for my granddaughter.  It's another busy day.

29th - I cut a few more triangles but mostly spend the day with family.  Bekah had a soccer game early so we were out of the house by 8:30 and off to Plano.  (yes, I admit to stopping in at Fabric Fanatics)  When we return, she tells me that she wants to give a quilt to her girlfriend again this year so I let her go shopping in the studio and we select a pattern for her.  She spends the rest of the day in the office cutting with minor supervision from me.  I cannot express how wonderful it is to share my passion with my grands.  It just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy all over.


 By dinner time -- she has everything cut and ready to go.  Her colors are great and this will be oh so cute.

After dinner, we celebrate Josh's birthday which is tomorrow and I give out the last grandchild quilt.  I did it -- all 13 received a quilt this year.  Wow.  I feel so good for having done that and he knew what his gift was and chose to open it first anyway.  Heart strings for sure.




Several other grands had their quilts along for the weekend as well.  Grandpa snapped this shot of Bekah one morning.  I think she is in there somewhere.

This has been such a good day.  Quilting happiness everywhere.

30th - My house has emptied out and everyone is off to the zoo before leaving town.  I want to go as well, but my stomach has chosen now to make me miserable.  I spend most of the rest of the day in bed feeling dang wimpy.  By evening, I am able to function a bit so I start out by sitting and hand stitching the binding down on the two cutting mats.  They are finished and I love them.  Both were free motion quilted on my Featherweight while at retreat.

Feeling a bit better still, I spend the remainder of the evening sitting at my desk cutting all the pieces for GI.  I am ready to sew.  Another month has come and gone.  I do not know how that happens but at least it was a busy one.


Thanks so much for checking in again this month.  I enjoy sharing my creativity with you and look forward to continuing this journey.

Previous 2014 posts:  First of year quilt update  (There are individual class posts for 4 Bonnie Hunter classes as well if you click on Feeling Crafty label and go to older posts.)
                         End of January quilt update
                         February quilt update
                         March Quilt Update
                         April Quilt Update
                         May Quilt Update
                         June Quilt Update
                         July Quilt Update
                          August Quilt Update
                         September Quilt Update
                       October Quilt Update

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