Wednesday, July 24, 2013

a quilt and a concern


My friend is due today, Pioneer Day, so I thought this red, white and blue day would be appropriate...and EASY!  Besides, I needed to make two quilts so I made this quilt twice.  I love this pattern!
My concern is that I have not received all the diamond blocks I was expecting; I am missing one.  I need to go through them to make sure which one I have not  yet received.  I hope it wasn't lost in the mail!
Hope you're all having a wonderful summer!
Camie

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Squares Boyardee




Dear Liz,
I am concerned (as I always am when sewing something for someone else) that my capabilities to execute the project successfully are lacking.  However, with your square I am more concerned that this project is going to stink.  Not figuratively, literally.  I started your block a few weeks ago, before my brother and his family came to visit, hoping I'd get it done before their arrival, but that did not happen.  I put all my sewing stuff away to spend quality time with my loved ones and now that they have gone home, I pulled out your block to finish.  When I plugged in my iron, to press all those lovely seams, I noticed an odd aroma.  Not, the smell of ingenuity or success or what have you, but something that smelled like it came from a Chef Boyardee can.  The steam from my iron smells like Spaghettios.  I'm not sure why, as I'm certain I have not filled the water compartment with anything but filtered water from my fridge.
I used some nice smelling starch, but I truly hope you don't put this quilt together and feel like you're wrapping yourself up in a quilt full of over-processed tomato-like sauce.
xo,
Becca



My little sister turns 33 today.  Here is what I made for her... 


it'll match the quilt I made her two years ago!  And I get to drive 23 hours next week to deliver it in person.   

Monday, July 1, 2013

IT'S DONE! IT'S DONE! IT'S DONE! IT'S DONE!

Have you ever had that project that you really DO need to finish, but it has turned into a BEAST?? In February, I had the brilliant idea to take a class at The Stitchin' Post when my mother in law came to town for a few weeks. Well, we had a blast making the quilt top. Talking and laughing and getting so much help from Megan Henderson. Well, long story short, I made mine into a squared lap quilt and finished it on the machine and love, love, love it!

My mother in law, whom I love dearly, decided to make hers into a large twin size (actually, a queen size). She left town before we finished them. Elizabeth and I committed to finish hers. No big deal, right? WRONG!! The beautiful "Carpenter's Star" quickly turned into a Beast! There was no way for me to quilt it on the machine and I wasn't willing to have it done professionally. So, I decided to put it on quilting frames... bad decision. I used "Pearl" thread and stitched it in a large, basting stitch.  Long story shorter, half way through I took it off the frames and finished it on the dining room table. (Quilted from the center and it totally messed up the backing underneath.) Yesterday, I finished sewing the binding! Woo Hoo! It is beautiful. I love, love/hate it. On Elizabeth's advice, I made a pillow case for her to use as a sham or such. Very cute. As our kids say when they want something of ours when we die, "Can I have that when you are through with it?" (It is so much nicer than "Can I have that when you die?")

Anyway, I guess I will inherit a very nice quilt when Betty is "done with it". 
 Three darling granddaughters trying out the quilt on Sam's bed. 
(Which has been made every day since he came home! Shocking, I know!)
 Yes, those are my husbands fingers up there doing the "bunny ears". Go figure.
The fabrics are the same as mine, just some different fruits and vegetables. 
My daughters think it is funny that I use this forum to tell everyone about my life. They think it is my blog. Hmmm. Maybe they are right. Anyway, I'm done, I'm done, I'm done!!!
Whew!