A Little bit of This & That

On the quilting front, I've been busy--yup, another new project. This one i can even share here. A new Christmas quilt is in the works. There was an unfortunate laundry adventure with the Christmas quilt that was completed last year. subsequent efforts to fixture problem only made it worse. Lesson learned, NEVER, EVER use a solid red flannel for backing fabric. No matter how many times it is washed, won't be enough.

So, here's the new quilt, orat least the center. Forgive the bad lighting but my quilt holder was not available. I'm currently working on the next border, free pieced words. Here are a few of the completed ones.

There are several more words that haven't been photographed yet---I'll save those for the final reveal.

We snuck in one last camping trip, and despite the drizzle on Saturday, it was a great weekend. The weather on Sunday was beyond spectacular, as in an unexpected gloriously sunny autumn day. When you get days like this in November in the Pacific Northwest, you savor every last morsel of them because they are few and far between. Seeing much of the sun after Labor Day is a rare occurrence.

And then there was this while we were attempting to pack.

What you don't see in this picture is the 11" of folded up mattress toppers he is perched on? He was most indignant that we had filled HIS spot up with stuff. Never mind the fact that his crate with a nice soft cushion was sitting on the floor of the bus.

While I've Been Gone

Wow! Where has the time gone? It can't possibly have been almost 2 months since I've posted. Lots has been going on.

First off, there's been a LOT of this:

From the Washington coast to Walla Walla, Boise, eastern Oregon and Leavenworth. The weather actually cooperated on all accounts, something most unusual for these parts.

At the biggest campout of the season this quilt was presented to some very special friends. If you click the picture, you can see all the VW buses.

I've also been working on these blocks in between The Farmer's Wife blocks and finishing up my QB Christmas Challenge.

Yes folks, the challenge has been done for a couple weeks now. More specifically, since the middle of October, more than 2 months before it's due. Hooray for me. Unfortunately for all of you reading this, you will have to wait until the Tuesday before Christmas to see it --sorry. But, as a consolation I can show you the lovely pack of fat quarters I won from Quiltmaker's Quilty Pleasures blog.

It's Super from Red Rooster by Gudrun Erla. I'm waiting for inspiration to hit me as to what to do with them.

Oh yeah, in between all this my 81 y.o. Dad had a minor heart attack. The long and the short of it is that he now has a new doctor that we actually like and I'm hoping will be more responsive. His previous doctor told him to continue taking tylenol and to call back in two days when he would be back in the office if Dad was still feeling bad......Don't EVEN get me started, arrrgghh. You can see why Dad now has a new doctor along with a cardiologist. It's been a long month. 

Birthday Round Robin Reveal

First up, Happy Birthday Janet! I can finally show a couple projects I've been working on. Last year for Janet's birthday I sent her a center square and a piece of fabric I decided was sufficiently aged and it's time had come. I challenged her to add a round and to create her own center and send them both back to me for my birthday which just so happens to be six months and six days after hers.

Here is Janet's Round Robin. (Note: I neglected to take a picture of just her center square, or if I did, it's probably on the laptop and I'm too lazy to turn it on and hunt for it.)




Her main fabric was a companion floral to the fabric I used in the corner squares. I used a floral stripe from the line to make the four patch posey squares. I worked on this shortly after receiving it in March and then put it away while pondering what to do with mine.



This is mine. I sent Janet the center square, out to the green. She added the flying geese. After a lot of wavering, I happened on a link to some really cool foundation pieced blocks. Sorry, I don't have the link handy right now.

After procrastinating way longer than I should have , and a few false starts due to not having enough fabric for my first few attempts, I finally ended up with this.



So, when I pulled Janet's back out to send off to her, I didn't like it. I think it needs something more, maybe some appliqué or something. But, time was against me so I sent it off anyway. When it comes back to me in March I will probably add some appliqué to those big gold areas.

Meanwhile, I have some serious catching up to do on the Farmer's Wife. Unfortunately it isn't going to be happening anytime soon. I've been doing some non-fun sewing in prep for our big, upcoming camping trip. Things like window screens for the bus. Door screen for the slider, porta-potty cover and an insulated cooler cover. I'd much rather have been quilting.

Happy Birthday Janet.

- LizA.
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