Another kind of creativity...

This week I have been having fun helping my daughter-in-law redo her living room. We had to take down the old wallpaper and do a little patching of nail holes but the wall surprizingly was in pretty good shape. This was so much fun with my two year old grandson "helping" us! Our next step is to prime the walls and then paint. She has new furniture waiting to be put into the room.
I really enjoy the process of decorating rooms. We have been talking about accessories and how we are going to position the new furniture. The room is large but long and narrow with a fireplace on one wall. Each end of the room has a large window which leaves in a lot of natural light. We have to be careful about furniture placement because her father, who is in a wheelchair, lives with them. I think the plan we have will work...we've measured and visualized! The new furniture comes with slipcovers which will make the room child-friendly.

We are taking a break this weekend though because I am going to babysit my other grandchildren while their parents take a short anniversary trip. My children and grandchildren are joys in my life....

Lone Star

I finished the Lone Star wallhanging top that I started at the workshop. I didn't quilt it but learned a couple of things doing it.

1. I do not like working with fusible webbing.

2. I do not like the shortcuts. (This is probably because I am used to hand piecing and now machine piecing and feel more comfortable with traditional patterns and methods.)

The class was fun and the teacher was great, but I just didn't like the project. I probably won't use the wallhanging. I didn't like how the points came together. They seemed bulky. First, I tried with the fusible webbing but found that it stretched and got the sole plate of my machine gunky. Then I copied the pattern onto paper, that worked some better because the folds were crisp and stable. Don't get me wrong, I don't regret taking the class. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I am so particular about points coming together right. It drives me crazy when they don't. I will probably try another Lonestar using the traditional method sometime but I have other projects on my plate.

I am going stay with my grandkids while their parents go away...one set of parents this weekend then go directly to the other set of parents for the next weekend. I am really looking forward to having time with the grandkids. I won't have time to quilt for a couple of weeks but when I get back I want to start the Wizard of Oz quilt. I am designing my own pattern for the quilt top so I can use some of my away time to draw it out. I also want to work on my Log Cabin quilt. Most of the dark strips are cut just waiting to be sewn.

I spent today sorting out a tub of old buttons that came from my grandmother and my aunt who passed away about a year ago. Some of the buttons are beautiful and unique. It was fun sorting them and thinking about how I could use them to embellish wall hangings....more projects in my head than I have time to do!

Must run now and pack!

Thomas II

I finished the binding on this quilt yesterday. I shouldn't have been so confident after doing the binding on the last quilt. This one actually went ok but I ran out of binding about 6 inches shy of finishing...so thankfully, I keep my scraps. It took some piecing but I was able to find enough to finish the binding. (The binding has stripes in it so that made it a little more difficult.) This is the second quilt I made with the Thomas the Train fabric. The block is called Children's Delight in the book I used (I have seen it called other names elsewhere). You probably can't see it in the picture but the quilting has railroad designs...Pinewater Quilter did the quilting...

Basket quilt

Last night I finished the binding on one of the quilts I picked up at the quilter last week. I was very happy how the quilt turned out...even the binding. Sometimes I struggle to get the binding to look right, especially around the corners, but all seemed to fall into place this time!

I also convince hubby to put up a rod so I could hang the quilt in the den. The colors were just right and it seemed to go with the antiques I have in the room. Anyway, here is a picture.

Spring Garden

The last two days have been great for working outside. I took the opportunity to work on my front flower garden. The tulips have been blooming and I am so pleased with their vibrant colors. They are all ones that I planted last fall. Some of the other plants from last summer are also peeking through and I added some new ones to fill in some spaces. I especially like the lily that is in bloom. The garden is now freshly mulched. I need to find some nice plant markers. Last fall I marked the plants and bulbs with plastic markers but the writing wore off over the winter. Thank goodness I kept the brochures that came with the bulbs so I can identify them this year.

A nice thing about retirement is that I actually have time to work with my flowers. At our old house, I had several big gardens but got frustrated that I didn't have time to tend them. There is just something about a flower garden that makes me feel good - it may be the colors or just the experience of seeing something grow. I planned this garden so I can sit on the front porch with a cup of tea and enjoy it. It is a little too early for the annuals in the pots on the porch - I can't wait for them!

Quilting Workshop

Today I went to the quilt guild workshop on making the Lonestar pattern. It was actually quite easy. I made mine with Christmas fabric...trying to get ahead of the season using fabric I bought for Christmas quilting over three years ago. The only thing I would do differently with this one is arrange my colors in a different way. It was a little hard to picture how it would turn out until after I got started. Next time, I'll do better.

The teacher was Linda Hahn from NJ. She is a fantastic teacher. Great ideas, no pressure. I really liked her idea of using "busy" fabric on the back of quilts and having some "signature" backing fabrics that tell a little story about you or the person you are giving the quilt to. For instance, she sometimes uses frog prints and tells her husband that she is still waiting for her frog (him) to turn into a prince. I think what she really was saying was have fun with your quilting!!!

I did get a call that the two quilts I have out being quilted are done. I'll pick them up tomorrow. I finished the quilt that I was working on so I'll drop that one off when I pick the other ones up.

Since my resolution was to not start a new quilt until I finished one and I knew I was going to go to the workshop today, Sunday afternoon I was in a quandry...what could I do? Instead of working on my UFOs like I should have, I decided to cut strips for a Log Cabin scrappy quilt I want to make. I figured that wasn't cheating since all I was doing was cleaning up my scrap box...right? The result is that I have almost enough pieces cut for the dark portion of the blocks. That will make the cutting quicker when I decide to actually do the quilt.

APRIL ALREADY!

Well, my daughters-in-law posted pictures of new appliances and house up-dates. I could probably post pictures of the check to the IRS I need to write! UGH. Tax time is so stressing. Tighten the belt a little over the next month or so....does that mean I have to limit my fabric purchases?

This past week has been busy. They did come on Thursday and Friday to install our Murphy bed. They need to come back to install the countertop on the desk that I had installed. For now, I am not able to use the desk top so the room is still a little messy. It is amazing though how much space is available now that the big sofa bed is out of the den. More space to spread out.

Last week we had a day when the temperature was 70...and I couldn't resist working outside. I put in a bunch of new plants among the tulips and lilies I planted last fall. The garden is starting to really be colorful. One thing nice about the soil around here...it isn't hard to dig. No rocks! Of course it is sandy and I need to add to it but it is so much easier to work than the rocky soil I was used to in NE Pennsylvania. The garden is right off the front porch so I can sit and enjoy the flowers.

I got the top almost done on the quilt I started a week ago Saturday. Right now I am going back to double check all the corners to make sure they meet...I am very particular an often rip out seams three or four times...I see the little blemishes that others might not notice. As soon as I finish checking, I will put on the border. Hopefully, it won't take long.



My next project will be to do the cutting for the Lonestar quilt class that the guild is giving next week.



This week will be nice. My son is staying with us while he attends a conference in Ocean City - he said he'd rather stay with us than in a hotel. It gives us a little time in the evenings to relax and chat.