I need a day of rest!

Today was a day of great accomplishments!

I knew that Maria was going to be here by 10 this morning and that Jeanette would probably be here that early also. When everyone had left last night, I finished piecing part of the star blocks and had a lot of ironing to do so I took some things upstairs with me and watched a couple of TiVo'ed items while I ironed. I also was thinking about a design wall and how I would end up putting my blocks together. Then, it hit me that with the kitchen table out of the way, I had a huge area in the kitchen with only the bay window in the way.....

When I woke up this morning, I didn't waste anytime getting ready since I was sure that I would have been caught with guests before I was ready. I spent a few minutes ironing more pieces and I watched another TiVo'ed show. I went down stairs around 9:45 with my design wall in mind. I was going to try hanging flannel from a 2X4 that is above the bay window holding my window treatments in place. Well, I hung the flannel and the blocks that I had done didn't stick to it too well. My next step was batting. I had the perfect size piece to fit in the area and I stuck it onto the 2X4 with straight pins. It held! And the blocks stuck well to the batting. I am calling it my Poor Man's design wall! I am also planning on leaving it up for a few more weeks for two reasons. It is keeping the cold air from the outside from entering the kitchen too much and I have my Wagon Wheel blocks that I still need to lay out to finish piecing together.

After all of the design wall creative issues, I started on my star blocks and got a couple more put together before Jeanette got here. And Maria arrived shortly after that. I ate my breakfast and we all chatted and then I had to get back to work. Patrice got here shortly after that.

Today, everyone was really good at keeping me on task to get the star blocks done. And I was excited as they were getting done rather quickly and then I was able to hang them on my "design wall." Jeanette showed Maria how to cut her fabric for a Turning Twenty quilt. I was going to get a couple of pictures for this, but my camera batteries were really low and my back up set weren't charged either so I threw them both on the charger and kept sewing. Patrice got our lunch service together and we ate.

When we were done eating, I showed Maria how to set the mole skin on Judy's machine so that she could get her 1/4" seam allowance and she started sewing her blocks together. She was doing a great job and I think that she was really enjoying herself!



Jeanette got binding on a second quilt. Judy and Patrice both offered to sew the bindings down so Jeanette jumped at that chance!



And the dogs were getting to be very quiet so we found out that they had found nice and comfy spots. Max was in the recliner on afghans....



And Maisy was underneath Patrice's chair in the sunshine!



I think that this is the point where I received a phone call. I didn't recognize the number and figured that it was a wrong number. Then, they asked for me and said that they were calling from Aunt Ruth's! They had pulled my name for a door prize! Unbelievable! They said that it was a jelly roll then said that no, it was jelly beans. I am not sure what jelly beans are, but the ladies here seem to think that it is 4" squares. They couldn't believe it!

Here is the mid-day progress on the Star and Nine patch shown on the poor man's design board!



Here is Jeanette actually sewing instead of running to a quilt shop! :D



I finally got the star blocks done! I got them all thrown up on the board and we were in the process of rearranging and then the blocks started dropping off of the batting. Jeanette was rearranging and I had to start dinner because Judy was going to be here by 5:30 and she is diabetic so I told her on Sunday that I would have dinner ready at 5:30 so that she could take her shot accordingly. So poor Jeanette, I had to stir the pot of sauce and she went over the blocks and pinned up all the ones that were still on the board. I came along and got some of the ones on the bottom rows and then we worked on getting the rest pinned up. This is a far shot of what we got after getting everything pinned up and then rearranging a little more.



Maria and I got dinner in the over, but it was a little late and it wasn't ready by the time that Judy got here. After we ate, Judy wasn't feeling well and she ended up leaving around 7. She looked so pale that Jeanette and Patrice talked her into letting someone drive her home so Maria drove Judy and Patrice followed in Judy's car and then Maria drove Patrice back here. I feel very bad because I think that she wasn't feeling well because dinner wasn't ready. Judy told me before she left that it wasn't that, but I know how ill I can feel when I don't get to eat when I absolutely have to. I am just going to make sure that I plan better the next time that she is counting on me.

While they were gone, Jeanette helped me cut the pieces that I need for the setting triangles and the pieced border. I pieced the corner pieces and a setting triangle and here is what one corner will look like.



OK, I think that is a good update! I am now really tired and need to get some sleep for work tomorrow!

Oh, and tomorrow is weigh in. I am not dreading this weigh in because I have been really good this week and watching what I eat. Also, I have picked up on the amount of fruits and veggies so I should be getting plenty of fiber. I should be in good shape to lose a bit at the meeting!