NQR

NQR--nothing quilt related.  There has been no sewing or quilting related activities so far this long and home-very-late-every-night workweek, other than a stop at Michael's for some rotary blades, needles and a little Kate Spain.  I get her newsletter so I knew her paper goods were being sold at Michael's.  I could have come home with armloads of these inexpensive goodies, but held myself to just a couple--for now.

Magnetic notepad and the adorable mini clipboard were each $1.50.

This reminded me that I had won a mini charm pack from Kate last year of Central Park that I've been hoarding.  I think it needs to come out and play very soon.  Meanwhile, I have quite a list of to do's this weekend, which for us here in the US is a three day weekend--Martin Luther King, Jr day is on Monday.  Sure would like to knock some things off that list so I must remember my word for 2012:  Focus.  I notice I'm muttering it under my breath to myself at times of easy distraction!

Tuesday's Orts--Jan 10, 2012

Tuesday's Orts--bits of thoughts and scraps of events from my week that land here.

• Despite my perceived restraint at buying Christmas stuff this year, it seems my boxes are more full than ever and some things simply won't fit back in their respective spots.  I swear I only bought a tablecloth and some snowman mugs.  Oh, and some new tree lights.  And garland lights.  Oh yes, and more wrapping paper. But no new ornaments, I swear!
• Things I Don't Understand:  Open-toe boots.   Just plain seem pointless to me in so many ways.  Why warm your heels and ankles if you leave a big hole at your toes?
• We've been having very odd weather here in So Calif--record breaking heat yet high surf.  These don't coincide usually but the surfers are loving it.
• I stopped at my favorite fish taco place the other day for lunch.  A lady pulled up in a cute red Mini Cooper wagon.  I really wanted to take a photo of her cargo--a full grown St. Bernard.  I would have, too, if she hadn't been standing right by me.
• Son Nick was taken to a Lakers game on Friday night as a Christmas gift from his girlfriend, Alison.    They were easy to spot in the crowd due to Nick's bright gold shirt, but they didn't make it onto the Kiss Cam, darn it.  Just a few rows in front of them were Jack Nicholson and also Charlize Theron.
• While Grant was golfing with his buddies on Saturday I worked on cleaning up the post-holiday clutter that gathered in our bedroom.  Mini supervised, of course.  I emptied a workbag of fabric and when I returned from putting it away I found this: 

Naturally I had to run downstairs for my camera.  She stayed in the workbag until I threw a empty shoe box on the bed.  You know what comes next, right?



Of course she had to try it out.  Later I went out to do errands/shopping and found a small storage tower for our tiny master bath shower/toilet room.  Mini helped by holding down the directions as I assembled it.  I couldn't actually READ the directions then, but she helped just the same.  Once complete, the testing phase immediately began.



Yup, perfectly cat sized!

Design Wall Monday--Jan 9, 2012

On my design surfaces today--two new projects.  Over the weekend I finished up two donation quilts and met my goal of mailing them off to Quilts for Kids on Saturday.  Glad to have those off my list and on the way to someone's sick kid.  So then I was free to jump into Bricks and Stepping Stones, a Bonnie Hunter pattern that I am making for my brother and showed the fabrics for last DWM.

I got about 1/4 the number of bricks completed and pieces and parts cut or sewn for many more.  The very dark brown brick on the top of the stack may simply be too dark but I'm leaving it for now.  It was so nice to sit and piece again! 

Then I had to jump in on Lori of Humble Quilts' quiltalong--especially since she liked the name I suggested for her project--so here are my blocks for Pink Lemonade.  These little shoofly blocks were fun to make--mine are green, brown, and navy.  The above link is to Part 1 and she posted Part 2 today.  See more Design Walls on Judy's Patchwork Times. 

Focusing

Man, that is a hard task when there are new projects calling my name!  But I have had a Quilts for Kids kit for a shamefully long time and my sewing room workweek's goal was to get it in the mail TODAY.  And so I shall, along with a from-stash fraternal twin quilt.

The kit quilt.  I added precut 2" scrap bin black/white print corners to the airplane print blocks for a change-up to the basic squares.

Some simple diagonal grid quilting in a variegated blue thread finished it off.  Originally I was going to bring the back over to the front and make a self binding but my quilting plan didn't really allow for that as I went off the edges of the quilt but not the edges of the larger backing.  Savvy?  That left loose ends that would have unraveled the quilting since I neatly clipped off the tails as I went.

This black and white checkerboard from the leftovers pile worked a charm for binding.

Skulls, flames, and stripes make this from-stash quilt pretty lively. 

I even pieced the batting from leftovers so incurred no extra costs to fashion this donation quilt.  I hope someone's kid likes it as much as I do!

The railroad tracks quilting gave this a nice texture and I would definitely use it again.  It was really fun to stitch. The quilting design was from Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project blog (Day 354).  She is currently doing a beginners free motion quiltalong and has some great tutorials.  Okay, off to the post office I go.  Focus, focus!



One Word+ Wednesday

Railroad Tracks

Tuesday's Orts

Tuesday's Orts--thoughts and bits of my week that end up here.

• Last week when my sister Kathy was here she brought her laundry over from her hotel and we hung out for a few hours (Mom was here for part of that), then went to a quilt shop and finally out to dinner with her daughter and boyfriend.  Sure wish Kathy lived less than 1900 miles away so we could do this more often.  Like once a week.  And there would be quilting circle time too.
• On Thursday I took an out of town trip with my friend Pat.  We met at the office and then headed toward the 101 freeway.  There was a heron/crane resting on top of the light standard as we went up the onramp leaving town.  That was a new sight!
• Our destination was Pismo Beach, a lovely drive through the rolling hills of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties to the sea.  I dressed for cold weather and regretted it, especially the long-sleeved turtleneck, as it was an unusual 75 degrees there.
• Things I Don't Understand:  Strollers for Dogs.  Especially bigger dogs, like the Standard Poodle I saw being pushed around a crowded retail store.  (Of course, I don't understand having to take your dog everywhere with you either.)
• In a first for my friend Pat, I took her into Quiltin' Cousins, a tiny little quilt shop in a converted bungalow.  She was shocked that I didn't buy anything (see above entry about quilt shop foray the day before).
• My camera did not make it out of my purse a single time on our excursion.  The sidewalks were crowded with tourists and after a few turns about town past all the touristy shops, including hitting the same main intersection about four times, we headed home.  Said Pat, "That was a long drive for lunch."
• Our rain totals have reached less than 4 inches so far since the rainy season began (October), so the hills are all brown, brown, brown all over southern/central California.

This sepia tone about approximates the current scenery!

Design Wall Monday--Jan 2, 2012

On my Design surface today is a new project that has been awaiting its turn in the queue since the summer.  I love the smell of a new quilt waiting to be born....

Bricks and Stepping Stones is a Bonnie Hunter design (quiltville.com).  Hers is totally scrappy and mine is controlled scrappy.  This is a quilt for my last remaining sibling still quiltless.  He likes coffee so I chose a few themed fabrics and lots of my favorite small geometrics and some textured solids.  I decided to make it easier on myself by using only one black and one white.  It is hard to find a good, dark black, isn't it?  See more Design Walls on Judy's Patchwork Times.