January UFO Update

I've had a couple of sew days this month at my house and have gotten to work a bit on my January UFO Talkin' Turkey. I am almost done with the last round on the 30 blocks. Then, I will need to make sashing and assemble the blocks and do the borders. Piece of cake! All of the units are done. It is just a matter of sewing and pressing and sewing some more! Last week, I pressed the units.

Last night, I decided to take a break from decluttering and I started attaching the units to the center of the blocks. I'm hoping that I can finish the blocks up in the next few days and get the top assembled by next weekend.

Speaking of decluttering, I have been following the 91-day declutter challenge from Mary Organizes blog. I tried this challenge a few years ago and got hung up in the kitchen. This year, I made great progress in my bedroom and bath and am hung up on the kitchen again. BUT! Next week is the laundry room which isn't much in my house so I am going to keep at the kitchen. My goal is to move all of my sewing/quilting items back upstairs into my studio but in an organized manner. It feels so good to get some things out of the house that I am not using or needing anymore. I've been working on selling things and things are moving out slowly but surely!

And I got the dogs new fleece jackets for the cold weather. Lula likes to wear hers and her tail is wagging non stop when we walk and she has it on. Kinsey, on the other hand, has to be goading into wearing it when I know it's cold enough outside that she needs it.

Trying again...

I am going to try another come back to the blog. I have been doing a fair amount of sewing this year and sort of keeping up with my 2019 UFO challenge. I have been quilting. I have been teaching classes with my partner in crime, Tina, and we have been having fun with those.

The last post on the blog was in April 2018 and there have been some big changes since then.

• The kitchen renovation is mostly completed as well as the rest of the condo upgrades. I'm working on getting more done and will plan on a big push in the new year.
• My brother bought a house and moved out. I am still working on putting things back to normal here. My sewing area is still set up in the family room and the master bedroom/sewing studio is almost empty. After the beginning of the year.....

Max got very sick and I lost him in June 2018. It was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make.

The next hard decision was that Lula needed a companion. For a while, I wish that I had waited a bit longer and I wish that I had tried to find a slightly older dog, but we survived. Somehow.

So now, I can introduce Kinsey Milkbone, PI. She was named after the main character in the Sue Grafton Alphabet series.

It took a while, but she is comfortable here and follows Lula around and they play well together.

She even likes the quilts!

I have also finished quite a few UFOs this year and projects from my UFO challenge. In order, these are the 2008 (or 2009, but does that really matter?) Thimbleberries block of the month, the 2009 Designer Mystery block of the month from the Fat Quarter Shop, and a blue and cream Wagon Wheel quilt block quilt that I made for a charity for my aunt.

My other reason to try and start blogging again is to start doing some book reviews for new books and the recommendation is to have an active blog. So here goes!

New Entry Door

There was some excitement around my house yesterday. I got a new entry door and storm door installed by Home Depot.

Before from the outside.



And from the inside.



The installers were a married couple and they were super nice. The wife was concerned about keeping things clean and keeping drafts from getting in the house. They called to me when they were finished with some steps to let me take pictures.

The view from the inside after he got the door out.



It was a very sunny day, but with a biting wind and it was pretty chilly. By the end of the day, Deanna looked like she was sunburned so I am sure the wind whipping between my building and the next one were rough on her. But she smiled the entire day!

I had some damage to the subfloor which I was aware of, but it was worse than my dad and I thought.



After they removed the door, they put up plastic to keep the win out of the house. I got this picture because it reminded me of ET! lol



Tom installed a cedar board and then they put some kind of tape over it to help prevent water from settling. Deanna is showing that they put the tape up the wall and down towards the stoop to help direct water out towards the stoop.



And the finish from the outside.



And the inside. For the deadbolt, I got one with a keypad so that I can close the door and it will be locked when I walk the dogs. Now, I won't have to worry about taking a key with me. Woo hoo!



Everything looks great! I will need to paint the inside of the door and the new trim that they put up around the door, but that can wait a few weeks. As long as it is done before guests arrive in April! :)

And the dogs were going crazy. Lula doesn't like to be away from me if I am in the house. When I take garbage out or clean up dog poo, she stands at the door and tries to get out and cries a little. Yesterday, I ended up taking her upstairs with me because she was crying so much and I was trying to get Maisy to stop barking and quiet down herself. I took a video... Poor babies!!

Weekend Quiltathon and cooking

It's been a busy weekend! I think that I am really thinking about my word of the year - do - and I am doing a lot and getting so much done!

I started the weekend by cleaning the studio and getting laundry started and trying to organize myself for Saturday. Saturday, I ran errands and hit the grocery store. I picked up a few things for dinners and when I got home, I took a nap and then got busy. I made a potato and smoked sausage casserole and a pot of chili. While that was cooking, I started something for the dogs.

They were very excited!



Dog treats! I had to roll the dough out and use cookie cutters. I cut dogs, Ds, musical notes and diamonds. If I am going to continue making these, I probably need to get some dog bone cookie cutters.



They were excited to try them a little warm!



This morning, I tried out a scones recipe. They were very good, but there was one casualty that hit the floor before getting to the cooling rack. sigh...



Other things that I accomplished this weekend are grafting the toe of the first sock in the purple and starting the second in the pair, piecing the backing for the last Scrap Squad and getting it loaded on the frame, quilting just about half of the Scrap Squad quilt, working on step 5 of the Easy Street mystery and working on a Midget Block.



What a great weekend!!

Design Wall Monday - 12/3

I feel like I got so much done this weekend! I quilted a new quilt on Friday and straightened up my studio when my back said, "enough!" I quilted Saturday and worked on laundry and Sunday I cleaned a bit more and got a few things organized. It's been a great weekend!

I don't think that I can show the full quilt yet, but I can show pictures of the quilting that I did. Here is the double loop that I worked on.



And a ribbon stipple. Don't adjust your screen - it is not a blurry picture! I quilted a stipple design and then quilted back over the lines for the final design. Man, is this time consuming, but well worth the effort!



I also spent the afternoon Sunday watching Bonnie Hunter's Quilt Cam and stitching up holes in dog toys and adding squeakers where necessary. I had a full plastic bagful of damaged toys!



I got another quilt loaded on the frame. This is the largest quilt that I have ever quilted!



And I finally got to work on my goodies for the giveaway that I had back in September. I have made a mental note to myself to not have a giveaway until I have the prizes made. It will save me the guilt from not sending my prizes out immediately! Tonight, I am going to work on the thread catcher and perhaps a Runaround bag. Then, I can get everything mailed out tomorrow!



I also have decided on a final design for my Dresden Plate quilt and I am going to start on that very soon. I really hope that I can have it completely finished by the 12th, but I am just not sure at this point. My final hold up is how to quilt the plates themselves as I may not have the space on the short arm set up that I have to do what I had initially decided on. It's all just too much to contemplate!

I am linking up at Judy's blog! Jump over there to see what others have on their Design Walls!

Thanksgiving workday

My parents were here for Thanksgiving and my mom and I planned a workday for my dad so that I could get some things done around the house that are beyond my abilities. They came by on Friday and brought their dogs so that they could meet Lula and see how their dogs got along with the my new addition. We are planning ahead for vacation in 2013 to make sure that my dogs can still come with me and 'visit' the entire family.

While Dad worked on changing out an outside light fixture to a motion detector fixture, Mom got to see Lula who was more interested in sniffing behinds the new dogs. Also on the agenda was fixing the shower faucet, adding a remote to a ceiling fan and replacing the front screen door.

Dad and I made a trip to Home Depot and Dad decided that I should just replace the front door and the screen door since there has been some water damage to the door frame and he wouldn't have time to replace the screen door. We also stopped at Skyline so that he and mom could enjoy their cuisine.

By the end of the day, the light fixture was changed, the shower was fixed (and the water pressure is amazing now!), the ceiling fan remote works and a date was set up for measuring my door.

Oh, and the dogs were all friends! Max, Maisy and Lula graciously shared their toys with the intruders other dogs and no blood was shed.

Jasper has 1 brown and 1 blue eye. He was not having a very good time this trip even though it was a warmer than usual week. He has seizures and they are playing with his meds. Here he is with Fat Daphne and Max in the background.



Jasper really likes the sunshine and he may have been missing that at my sister's house where my parents stayed.



And Maxie was tuckered out at the end of the visit.

Losing my Seat

If you are looking for the Modern Designs for Classic Quilts book giveaway, that is in this post.

There is still time to enter! I am drawing a name tomorrow night!

When I am in my studio and sewing, I tend to have to get up from my chair and press something at the ironing board. Recently, the new addition to the household has decided that if I don't 'call' to save my seat, it is up for grabs.

She tries not to make eye contact at first - it's that whole if-I-am-not-looking-at-you,-you-can't-see-me thing.

Then, I drop my arms to my side and sigh heavily and she sneaks a peek.

At least she is a good sport and gets down (when I pick her up and put her on the floor) and there is only minimal growling. I jest! She hasn't growled yet when I have made her move, but it does seem to make her feisty and toss her toys at me to try and get me to play. She is a silly, silly pup!

Design Wall Monday - 8/6

I think that my private Quilt-A-Thon was a success!

I made block #8 for the 2009 Mystery BOM.



And all 8 so far...



I have the signature wall hanging for my co-worker. Her parents turn 80 years old in the next month or 2 and she is going to have the family members sign this quilt in the borders at their party. I just need to stitch down the binding tomorrow at the guild meeting.



I also made a Midget block last night that I will show tomorrow. And I pressed fabric for the baby quilt so that I can start cutting the fabric tomorrow night.

And I made these 2 very happy puppies by stitching up their favorite toys and inserting additional filling and new squeakers where necessary. They could barely contain themselves as I stitched up the holes!

Friday Night Sew In and Machine Envy

What a productive day!! I was super busy at work and got so much done and when I got home, I kept going!

Last night, my friend from the quilt shop that I used to work at stopped by and we discussed quilt frames and our machines. I showed her how to use the red snappers and we loaded a quilt on the frame. While she was telling me about her machine, the beloved HQ Avante, I got so envious! I really want that set up!

I spent every free moment I had today trying to think of ways that I could upgrade my set up and the only logical way is to bring in more quilts and get more quilting done. At the beginning of last weekend, I had 4 quilts to quilt for others and that is the most that I have had at one time since last November. I quilted one last weekend and just finished up another. I'm going to get another one loaded on the frame this weekend and should be able to have the 4th done by the end of next weekend.

Then, I won't have any quilts to quilt for others and I will have to work on my quilts. Isn't there someone out there who needs something quilted? Something queen size or smaller to be quilted in an all over free motion design or a panto? My prices are on the quilting tab. And I have a FB page as well with updates and pictures of the designs and my work. And for the rest of this year, I am paying half of the return shipping on any packages that need to be shipped back.

OK, enough of my begging for work!

Tonight, I got all three of the pups to play even though Maisy didn't want to do much. And after I ate, I tried to quilt a little, but I was having issues with my thread and needle combo. After the third break, I ripped out all of the quilting - it totally was less than a row, but still a bit irritating. I decided to straighten out the backing a little and realized that I have the directional backing the wrong way and it would have been upside down on the quilt. It's a very good thing that the needle and thread didn't like each other!

Once I got everything straightened out and the top flipped around, I quilted one pass with a size 14 topstitch needle and it worked beautifully with the Coates and Clark thread! So I took the dogs for a walk! When we got back, the dogs napped while I finished quilting the quilt.

They are definitely getting more used to each other and Lula is making herself at home. And there have been 'words' between her and each of the other two pups. No blood has been drawn, but I am still keeping a close eye on all of them. Lula and Maisy made themselves at home on dog blankets in the basement while I quilted.

Tomorrow, I will take pictures of the quilt I finished tonight. It is just adorable and I can't wait to show it off!!

Lula update

The dogs all seem to be getting along better. I read up a little on dogs and packs and alpha behavior and started putting a few things into effect when I got home from work last night. I also spent time playing with all the dogs while dinner was on the stove and before I fed them. And the pups and I worked on showing her how to sit. She isn't quite picking up on bringing the toy back to me to throw it again, but she is getting closer.

After dinner and while I was sewing last night, she was upstairs with me and Maisy and while Maisy slept, Lula kept me company on the floor and at my feet. Luckily, she isn't bothered by the sewing machine.

After we went out for the last time, all the dogs wanted on the bed in the studio for a little nap time before bed.



Still no biting or attacking each other so I am taking this as a good sign! That and I haven't noticed anymore crying from Max so that makes me happy, too!

The new addition

I picked up the new dog last night. She is very sweet, but neither Max nor Maisy is taken with her. Not even a little bit. She is bigger than both of the pups and she is following me around quite closely so I am sure they are not really happy about that either.

Her name is Lucy Lu and I was trying to call her Lula or Lulu, but she knows Lucy. When I get frustrated with her, that is what she answers to.



She definitely knows how to chew on some toys.





See how tall she is? And she is longer than both pups. I think they are intimidated by her.



Her and Max did play a little, but it was a lot of jumping back and forth at each other. Very little actual contact.





And she is still in heat. I think that the only thing the pups like about her is that she is leaking her scent all over. All I can say about that is EW!!

Things are still up in the air right now. If Max and Maisy don't like her, then I will have to find her another place. M&M come first, you know.