garden flowers, new motif for quilt

I was up early Monday morning (9/29) to get everything out of the way so that I could call Miss Scarlet’s electronic company at 10 AM…..I called, no techs are in yet!!!!  Also, head quality control guy (who I am definitely going to talk to) not in yet either!!  They are supposed to call me back.  In the meantime I sewed together some of the blocks on my newest quilt, so that when my sashing fabric gets here (ordered over the internet) I am ready to go.

My honey dropped out of golfing today because the forecast stated 100% chance of rain…instead picked new flowers for the kitchen and living room

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and ran errands to BJ’s and the grocery store.

I called the electronic company back again at 11 and this time got a tech.  Something was screwed up with the driver’s for the USB cable….she fixed it, but I also asked her to walk me through it so that I can (hopefully) correct if it happens in the future.  By the time I got off, my honey was home and I helped to unload the car…but I realized I still had several questions that weren’t answered, so called the company again.  We had a long talk and I got lots of good information and have started a WORD doc to keep track of everything I am learning.  My honey was so sweet…he made a grilled ham/cheese sandwich and brought me 1/2 on a plate with a napkin so that I could eat while on the phone…I was starving!  I started to stitch out Jan’s quilt just before 2 PM.  I had a lot of bobbin changes as well as some problems with the pattern, and Jan’s particular pattern has a lot more stitches than any I have done previously (but it is a very pretty leaf pattern),

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

so I didn’t get finished until 7:30 PM….I was pooped…but SO GLAD to have the first ‘outsider’ quilt (meaning not one of my own) under my belt.  I poured a glass of wine and snuggled with my honey for the rest of the night.  By the way….he DID get a part in WAIT UNTIL DARK and has already started to learn his lines, as the part is big.  I can’t wait…we usually have the cast party when Michael is in a play at Fort Mill…I’ve already started planning the food  :~).

new blocks, Elsie & Cookie, pizza!, 40 new blocks, Miss Scarlet sewing apron

Finally….we saw this big, yellow orb on Saturday morning (9/27)…it’s been so long since we’ve seen it that it took a few moments to identify it as the sun!  Michael was happy to leave early for golf at SCCL, and I settled into the studio to sew.  What a difference a jelly roll and a simple block design makes….on retreat I was working on 9 patches that were 3-3/4 inches finished…and I started with big pieces of fabric.  That pattern is taking FOREVER!!!  Saturday morning I started with a jelly roll and a simple block design…within 25 minutes I had 4 blocks done! 

 

 

Janice completed a quilt top in this pattern at retreat…I am liking it so much I may take some of my scrap 2-1/2 inch strips and make another one.

Jan came over around 11 and we loaded up the back for Walt’s green quilt on Miss Scarlet.  Jan's batting was in a bag, so we stretched it out on the pool table to relax for a day or 2, and she picked out the leaf pattern that she wants on the quilt.  Shortly after Jan left my honey got home with an 89 for his score.  I am surprised he did that well after golfing so late the previous day.  He decided to retire to the deck to ‘read’ for a bit (more napping than reading I think) and Janice and I SKYPED for an hour (since we missed our regular Wednesday night).  Then it was back to my jelly roll blocks.  Even with all of the visiting I did, by dinnertime all 40 blocks were done…INCREDIBLE!!! 

Michael had a little company when he took his shower in the late afternoon (this is the closest they've been since last winter):

 

We had pizza’s again for dinner (I just LOVE these new, quick pizzas)

before baking....

and after...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and then we settled in with popcorn to watch STAR TREK IV:THE VOYAGE HOME.  It was a great evening.

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We had breakfast on the deck Sunday morning (9/28) and relaxed and read the paper for a bit.  I finally told myself I was procrastinating and headed to the studio to finish loading up Jan’s quilt.  I spent an hour and felt that everything was perfect.  I got the left side and the top basted, then turned on computer program.  What a surprise….NOT….program not working  :~(.  My screen says the machine is unable to connect with the program.  I turn off, unplug and re-plug in everything several times…same result.  I say a bad word and go back to organizing sewing room.  Michael got all of my blocks laid out on the design wall, and I love them, but the dimensions are too small. 

 

I am going to order some type of rainbow fabric to make the quilt top more of a single bed size.  I spent the rest of the day and early evening making a sewing apron for Miss Scarlet. 

 

Then it was snuggling on the couch with my honey and watching TV.

Even though it was still very overcast on Thursday morning (9/25), Michael took Cookie for a walk first thing (it has been rainy with temps in the 60’s ever since I got home from retreat!!)  I spent the entire day and a portion of the early evening sewing.  We did stop for dinner (scrumptious homemade pizzas), otherwise it was work-work-work at cutting big bits of fabric into little bits of fabric, which were then sewn back together with other little bits of fabric cut from big bits of fabric, creating (you guessed it) bigger bits of fabric  :~).  And why exactly do we do this?

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Jan and I ran errands in the morning on Friday (9/26) and I was home by NOON.  Michael left for golf shortly before I got home (I think they had a 1 PM tee time).  Once again it was big-bits-to-little-bits-to-big-bits until just before he got home at 7 PM.  We watched TV for a bit as Michael said over and over again “I am not an afternoon golfer’!

garden flowers

Tuesday morning (9/23) was all about sleeping in and starting to unpack, do laundry and put things away.  My honey picked 2 new bouquets of garden flowers to welcome me home (for the living room and kitchen) and they are beautiful!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I got most of the unpacking done before my class at NOON on Halloween wreath making.  I got home after 2 (the wreath is not quite finished yet….so no pics), I read for a bit, took a VERY short nap and headed to a friend’s house for a quick volunteer meeting.  After that it was dinner and watching TV with my honey until bed.

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I was up early on Wednesday (9/24) to get a large blog entry written and posted.  Michael was up for golf as well, but it was a gloomy, rainy day and very wet (apparently it has been raining all evening).  He was home within a couple of hours...they sat in the car, in the rain for an hour and finally decided it wasn't letting up  :~).  I left at 1 PM for a ‘training’ session on Miss Scarlet at the store where I bought her.  I was VERY glad to meet another woman who bought the same thing.  She had lots of good ideas which I can’t wait to try!  I stopped by Jean’s and talked for a bit on the way home…finally got home at 4:30 and Michael and I were both starving.  We had potato/carrot mash, cole slaw and ham for dinner, then I settled in to sew in the evening while he watched a bunch of movies.

Fiber Floozie Retreat

I’m backing up to last Wednesday (9/17) and the start of our Fiber Floozie adventure.  Michael left so early for golf that he discovered our golf cart head lights no longer work!  June packed our car so efficiently that I could still see out the back window….you would truly realize how much of a miracle that was if you could have seen what we took!  We swung by and picked up Jean and were on the road by 7:30 AM. 

We took a very circuitous route to I-77 to avoid the Charlotte traffic – and I’m still not convinced that was the right move.  We finally hit SEW MUCH FABRIC/BATIKS in Wytheville VA just before 11 AM. 

We shopped for a bit, stopped for a bite and headed off to cross VA.  By 4 PM we were at SCRAPPY APPLE and found a few goodies there.  Then we headed to Hagerstown MD for a BBQ dinner and our hotel.  We all collapsed around 9:30 PM.

We were too excited to sleep very long and were all up at 6 AM for showers and breakfast.  We hit GRADY HOUSE at 8:20 AM…..a little early for Nancy (the caretaker). 

But she arrived relatively quickly and we proceeded to arrange everything the way we liked, and got to sew a tiny bit before the CT Fiber Floozies arrived. 

BG

Mary Jo

Janice

We sewed all day and night, BG made a great chicken casserole for dinner and I think we were all in bed by mid-night. 

Friday is traditionally our ‘eat breakfast out’ shopping day, so it was pancakes at PERKINS and a visit to the Sewin’ Place. 

We hit a liquor store on the way home….then it was back to sewing.  Friday night’s dinner was frozen soup, courtesy of Leila (who couldn’t make it this year…but sent food anyway  :~) and hot, homemade yeast rolls (I took the dry fixin’s in a zip lock bag and added oil/milk/water at the retreat….they were great!)

Saturday was sew-sew-sew, along with a quick trip to Dairy Queen for some, and to church for others.  I made chicken enchiladas for dinner on Saturday, along with a big salad.

Sunday was sewing all day, and BBQ pulled pork courtesy of Mary Jo for dinner in the evening.  Lots and lots of projects were started, and many were finished over the days we spent on retreat.

On Monday morning (9/22) 5 people packed up the cars as Janice made the traditional going home omelet, using up all of the eggs and a bunch of leftovers from the fridge.  We had breakfast, said our good-byes, took final pictures

and headed for home around 10:30 AM, going our separate ways.  Jean & June & I had a conference when we stopped around 1 for gas and we decided to buy munchies then and try to drive straight through, not stopping for dinner.  That turned out to be a good plan as we hit minimal traffic and were home just after 6 PM.  Michael went back to Fort Mill for a second day of try-outs for WAIT UNTIL DARK, and I sat like a lump on the couch, watching TV.  When he came home we both splurged with brownies, which turned out to be a total mistake on my part, as I saw 1:30 AM come and go while I was still awake….listening to my honey softly snore  :~). 

secret project

The South Carolina Fiber Floozies got home at 6 PM Monday night….my house is still a wreck and I have lots to do, but wanted to get a short blog post out today….so…you’re getting to see the ‘secret project’!!!  Some pics during the process…and then the final result…hope you enjoy:

strips are covered and serged....

beginning to weave



stitching around outside to keep it square

 

time to cut off edges

 

finished at last

happy recipients - 2 different fabric choices

Michael took Cookie for an early morning walk on Tuesday (9/16) while I continued with packing for retreat.  Other than a wonderful visit from Nancy H in the morning (while I got Mocha Chocolate Truffle cookies made for Michael) and a hair appointment in the afternoon, packing up was the order of the day.  Jean & Jim came over at 5 and brought all of her stuff, and June was there by 5:30.  Michael left for a dinner reception for the golf tournament he is playing on Wednesday and Thursday, while June and I had meatloaf for dinner and then talked the night away.  We are ALL very excited about retreat….Jean said that Tuesday was the slowest day of her life!  No more posts for a bit…we leave at o-dark hundred Wednesday morning.

bread

Michael left at 6:30 AM for golf on Monday (9/15)…it was still dark!!!  These guys are crazy!  But he was home before 1 PM with an 85 so he seemed happy.  I had 3 meetings…first my regular monthly Volunteer meeting, then Ida (other co-president) and I took about 8 – 10 boxes of paper type supplies over the middle school, then I had a meeting with our CPA….it’s official….QUILT DEVO is an official Limited Liability Company!!!!  By January (if not a bit sooner) I hope to be quilting for other people…and I am excited.  I have absolutely LOVED doing the quilting on my tops, and even though I am super excited about retreat (we leave WED), I can’t wait to get back and get something new loaded up on Miss Scarlett!!  Anyway, I wanted to get some food done for my honey to have while I’m on retreat, so I made bread (extra 1/2 loaf went to neighbor who will be taking Cookie out while Michael is in a 2 day golf tournament)

 

 

and brownies and my chicken enchiladas (which will be dinner one night at retreat).  After that I read my book for a bit, and about 9 PM we got together to watch TV for a bit before bed.  Only 1 more day (Tuesday) and then the FIBER FLOOZIES hit the road!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Meg's wedding

Michael left for golf here at SCCL on Saturday (9/13) even though it rained overnight and still looked very overcast in the morning.  He was home by 2:30 with an 84 and said they only got sprinkled on for 1-1/2 holes.  I spent most of the day cutting fabric for 2 quilts.  I recently bought a pattern I just love and I hope to start working on the tops when I get back from retreat.  I thought I’d start cutting it out, to see what fabric I still might need.  Since we’ll be hitting 4 quilt shops on retreat, I’ll have a good chance of finding whatever I might be missing.  We got cleaned up and were ready to leave for Meg’s wedding at 3:30.  Meg was the office manager at our chiropractor’s office, and she invited us to her wedding. It was about an hour away, but we got there with no problem.  They had everything set up in a big field on their new property.  The ceremony was lovely.  The bridesmaids and and the bride arrived in an open wagon….pulled by a big blue tractor (driven by the bride's father)…after the wedding, the entire wedding party left the same way (to go take pictures before the reception):

arriving (the bride was hidden until she walked down the aisle)

and what a beautiful bride she made

Meg's mom made the dress...the lace on the dress was
from Meg's mom's wedding dress



Meg & Brannon Brown

It was a lovely wedding, and we arrived home just in time before the torrential rains started.  We made a big bowl of popcorn and settled in to watch STAR TREK 3 – THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK.  By the end of the movie, my lack of sleep from the night before totally caught up with me and I collapsed into bed.

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Sunday morning (9/14) it was WAFFLE TIME!!!  Not the overnight, yeast ones…but the 10 minute whole wheat ones.  Nancy H had given me some Yukon gold potatoes, and Michael fried those to perfection with some onions…what a FABULOUS breakfast.  I got a bit of fabric cut before it was time to leave for the theatre.  We met up with Lisa & Dean and saw the world premiere of RIVER CITY and it was a terrific play.  Jeremy is one of the actors we see quite frequently in Actor’s Theatre productions and he is always excellent, but in this play he was NOT TO BE BELIEVED….his acting was incredible…even though he has to be close to 30 years old, he played a totally believable 14 year old orphanage boy.  We all went out to MAM RICOTTAS afterwards and had an excellent dinner, and we were home by 7:30.  Michael had taped golf during the afternoon that he wanted to watch…so I happily headed back to the studio to continue to cut fabric.  I’m just going through my stash cards picking out anything I already have that goes with the ‘focus’ fabric I’m going to use.

Nancy H and I ran errands Friday morning (9/12) and hit ALDI’s on the way home for lots of good stuff.  By NOON I was ready to do something fun in my studio.  I didn’t exactly get to do something fun….I worked on making sure I had everything I needed for my retreat projects…and I discovered that I totally screwed up my fidget quilt cuts….I wanted to make the quilts 4 blocks by 4 blocks….but had only cut 9 blocks of 9 different fabrics.  I couldn’t find 6 more fabrics, but at least cut 3 more so that the quilts will be 3 blocks by 4 blocks.  I also found 4 pieces for the back and just need 5 more (as I’m hoping to make 9 fidget quilts). Michael and I got cleaned up in the afternoon and joined 36 other people we sent in tickets requests for at the Fort Mill Playhouse for their dinner theatre THE SPITFIRE GRILL.  The dinner was good, and the play was WONDERFUL…funny, sad, heartwarming…it certainly lived up to its theme of redemption…I loved it.  My only mistake was in drinking the iced tea at dinner…I never gave it a thought until I got home, and at 4 AM was still awake…..at least I’ll remember the next time someone offers me tea after breakfast (I hope!)

garden flowers, Cookie, new charity quilt

Michael picked 2 new bouquets of flowers on Thursday (9/11) one for the kitchen and one in the living room. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I packed up the car and headed off to quilting.  I got very little accomplished at quilting, but had a GREAT time talking to everyone….so that’s always a plus!  June had another appointment at 3 PM (and she lives far away) so she came home with me again and we sat around the kitchen table talking until it was time for her appointment.  I spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening finishing the binding on my newest quilt.  We had our FIRST BLT’s of the summer…and they were incredible!!  When I came upstairs at 8 to watch STAR TREK: THE WRATH OF KHAN with Michael, I discovered someone else likes my charity quilts too!

 

 

I got the label stitched down while watching the movie, so another charity quilt is totally done:

Last year I finished 3 charity quilts…this year within the past month alone I have finished 4….I know it’s going to be a continuing refrain, but I LOVE Miss Scarlett....and I know just how fortunate I am to have her!!!

tutorial again on Feta/Pasta

Having a new toy (namely Miss Scarlett) is not at all conducive to eating!!  Yesterday I got so caught up in doing the quilting in the morning, I never had breakfast and had to make a quick smoothie for brunch (which really stayed FROZEN all through S&C so I didn’t get to eat it with a spoon until I got home at THREE PM!!!!) I went downstairs Wednesday morning (9/10) as I normally do…got my blog entry done and ran through all of my emails while drinking my tea, then I unpinned the newest quilt from the frame.  I just wanted to sit down and start working on the binding RIGHT THEN….but instead I went upstairs, had breakfast, hit the farmer’s market (for zucchini & tomatoes for tonight’s dinner) and finally got home around 11 ready to get back to my quilt!!  I wonder if I’ll always be this excited to own Miss Scarlett…I sure hope so!  I spent most of the day ripping stitches out of the leftover quilting fabric so that I would have enough to make binding strips.  I finally got everything ripped out and all of the binding strips cut before dinner.  I made the pasta/feta dinner and thought I’d do a tutorial again

the cast of charaters:olive oil, whole wheat thin spaghetti (but you could use
any pasta shape you like), chopped basil, feta, chopped zucchini,
chopped tomatoes

start your pasta cooking first...this meal goes fast.  heat olive oil (1 - 2 tsp) in
skillet, then throw in teh zucchini

wait until the zucchini has some good carmelization then add...

the tomatoes.  saute for just a couple of minutes

add in the basil

the cooked pasta

and the feta

stir it around until feta mealts slighly....serve!!

 

This stuff if SO good!  After dinner I spent an hour SKYPING with Janice….one more week and we will be together….then sewed all of my binding strips together before heading upstairs.

pizza!

Michael ran errands (chiro, AAA, Best Buy, grocery store) on Tuesday morning (9/9), and Nancy H came for a visit.  I hadn’t planned to stitch out my quilt because I didn’t think I would get the whole thing done before Stitch & Chat, and I wasn’t sure I knew how to get back to ‘where I was’, but Nancy was really excited to see it, so I worked out a pattern and then saved it in the program, and then started to stitch it out.  OMgosh….she loved it….and I got the whole quilt done (small though it was at 47 inches by 60 inches) before S&C!!!  Even though I screwed up my last 3 rows of placement (I forgot to mark my quilt before advancing it) I think it turned out rather well.  I used the same heart design I used on a previous quilt…I am very enamored of that design, since I think all quilts are given with lots of love in them  :~).  I ran upstairs at 1 to make a quick fruit smoothie and head on out to S&C (no Joanne this week as she was substitute golfing).  I had fun, and took the green/pink quilt for show and tell and I think everyone liked it.  When I got home, I finally finished my smoothie, then picked up Jan and headed to the library to return stuff and take out new stuff.  After dropping Jan off I swung by Jean’s and got to talk to both her AND Donna…and got home just in time to turn on the oven and build our pizzas (Michael built the spinach & mushroom one for him, while I had onion & pepper)…YUM!

before....

and after....don't they look HUGE??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These pizzas are SO easy with the flatbread…it’s wonderful!  Michael left shortly afterwards for the movies (the James Brown autobiography) and Barb W stopped by to knit and talk for a bit.  I got the gauge done on the yarn she found in my stash last week and started to knit the new sweater.

butterflies a duex, quilt & label

Michael got rained out of golfing on Monday (9/7) so that was kind of bummy.  We both had breakfast, then he headed to the living room to finally finish a book, while I headed downstairs to work on tumbling blocks.  I finished up the smallest size of the green ones and the purple ones, that means I only have to do the silver ones to be totally finished.  I rewarded myself by doing the binding on the back side of the newest quilt.  Michael joined me and continued to work on a DVD of our vacation this summer.  He had 2 beautiful pictures of the butterflies, so I decided you needed to see them (I'm not sure I picked the best photos to show you when we first got back from vacation):

doesn't it look irridescent??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These were at the butterfly exhibit at the Louis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond, VA.

By dinnertime (which my honey made….potato/cheese periogis with sautéed onions…YUMM-O!!) the quilt was DONE:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and I loaded up another one after dinner :~) 

Have I mentioned how I LOVE LOVE LOVE having Miss Scarlett??