Sad story

I bought more pins and I started pinning off and on while cooking supper the other night. Well I was almost done with three sides of the quilt and the third corner I found out I had shifted the top and it wasn't meeting the backing properly. 

I tried shifting with taking out some of the pins thinking I had a tuck in the whiole thing. It was not budging. I ended up having to  unpin the whole top. 

I have a much bigger table which I should have used, but my husband was told by me to start a puzzle. So the puzzle was sorted all over the larger table. So I though oh I can use the smaller one and found the center to all the layers and started pinning away.

Well it didn't work. The girls are coming this next thursday for two days and nights so I will fold it up until he gets done with the table. 

I can do some m ore piecing. I have two sets of blocks that just need sewing together into rows. Maybe that is the direction I should take. 

Frustration, but I will get over ity. Chris 

Was on a roll then.......

Yes I was on a roll of pin basting this and I ran out of safety pins. I had to buy some more yesterday and today while doing laundry I plan on getting this finished pin basting. 

I have two theories. I have tons of pins, but they are tied up in other quilts that are not finished quilting and I also need more time in the sewing room to get finished.

Yesterday was a day when nothing but shopping got done. I had to go do my monthly run and it was not one supercenter, but two.Still need to go to the grocery. Some don't understand the once a month shopping, but I find I spend less money if I plan ahead. I do go for milk and bread or something special in between. Learned from living 14 miles from a store for years.

Suppose to be really nice today. In the 40's and sunny. I want to go to a thrift store and see if I can find any goodies for my girls. They are growing so fast they need some upgraded sizes.

Summer is going to be here before we know it and I want to get some painting done in the house. We have some textured wallpaper to hang and yet it doesn't get done.

Hope your days will be bright for you. Chris

Husband's Birthday

Grandpa is 68 years old today. He laughed and said he was 108. 

We are having homemade beef vegetable soup. Also Beef and cheese sliders. 

This is chicken cooking with celery and carrots. I will be making homemade egg noodles after I get this posted.

I made a chocolate cake and a white cake. Charleigh the baby turned 1 year old on the 5th so we will celebrate her birthday also. mommy was sick when we were going to do it.

Next month my birthday and my son's and Step-son and his wife's anniversary. so it will be a busy month. March is Daughter-in-law and Autumn's 5 th birthday a day apart. So birthdays are on going here. 

Have a great day. Chris

Grandpa and his Cutie Pie

This little one had a birthday on the 5th. She is a year old. Grandpa has his 68th birthday on the 21st. So we are having a birthday party for both of them.

Sunday will be the day. She has changed so much in the last couple months. She is on the run and trying to talk. she wants to do everything the older girls do and she gets really mad when she can't. 

Mom and Dad she has both of their stubbornness. She will throw herself down if she doesn't get her way. Terrible Two's started when she was 10 months old. 

So getting ready to cook and bake for the family to get together. Have a Good one. Chris

First top in 2018

Last night I got the last of the sashing on this top.I got it pressed and it is ready to sandwich. I need today to look for a back. I have a couple wide pieces, but not sure they are long enough. I have to measure to see where it will all play out.

My Granddaughters are coming today and will spend the night and most of tomorrow with us. Mom and Dad have some paperwork to do to go talk to a banker and three little ones can be distracting when business gets in the way. 

We enjoy having them, but get really worn out. tonight we are to get snow so that will have to be dealt with also. 

The girls now want a table to work at. I have two portable work tables so I need to get the other one cleared off and brought out into the living room so they each have their own. I have a tray table for use when you are in bed. I think it will work for the baby to sit at and each will be happy for awhile. 

Can't do for one and not for the other. 

I had been spending way to much time on the Internet of late and I turned that around and hopefully can be more focused on what I want to do. Some of the social media sites can be a time drain and i think I got sucked up into the funnel and I decided to pull out. 

Hope you are staying warm and you are able to get your projects worked on while it is indoor weather. Chris

Yesterday

I started with the row sewing on the first of January. I work on it awhile and then set it aside. 

Yesterday I got all the rows sewn together. I still have two outside sashing pieces to sew on. They are sewn, but not pressed. So sometime today it will be a completed top. 

I have to look for a back. Since it is a utility quilt I think it will be something neutral. Been trying to figure out quilting for it. I think just a diagonal quilting to cross all the blocks. 

This kind of quilt can be masculine or feminine. It has pinks in it and yet it is neutral enough it could be a guy quilt. 

It is almost queen sized. 4-patches are 2.5 inch squares sewn into 4-patches and the sashing is 2 inches wide and the cornerstones are 2 inches square. Really straight forward sewing. 

This is a true scrap quilt. Everything, but the kitchen sink is sewn into this one. Men's shirtings, solids, prints, plaids and stripes. When stitching the 2.5 inch squares together I just made sure there were not two of the same print or color in the 4-patches.

I have a bucket with 2.5 and 2 inch squares always cut. Then when I just need to sew I make 4 and 9 patches and put them away for a future project. The zippered bag had over three hundred 4-patches in it. I used 224 for this quilt. 

Hope you are sewing lots these cold Winter days. Hettie we know it is hot where you are. Chris

Still in the Deep Freeze.

It is -19 degrees outside right now. It has a windchill of -33 degrees. Sucks the air out of your lungs when you go outside.

This is a picture of some of the blocks I need to get finished. I think they have been on the works for a long time. Maybe 18 months or more. 

Oh my look at the date in the corner. It is 2 years. My juices for quilting haven't run really well for about a year. When I finish these where am I going to store them??????

This is a lap quilt size. Great bright colors for a cold Winter wrap. Hopefully you all can get to your sewing and you will be able to get something accomplished. Chris

January 4th

361 days until Christmas. Yes I am thinking ahead. I need to get going.

No I just thought I would throw that out there, but it is reality. Reflecting back over this year and deciding what I should correct and there are many things. But the biggest one is to get more sewing done.

I bought jersey knits to make some jackets for myself and haven't even thought about it since I bought the fabric. I noticed it yesterday because it was in my way.

I have things on the sewing desk that need attention like mending and I need to get them done.

The list goes on and on. I could list housekeeping skills are lacking and also food preparation has been lacking lately also. We are eating, but not the best we could be eating.

Still really cold out and wind chills are awful. Air temp is -9 degrees and the windchill is -23 degrees.
The weather is suppose to change Saturday to 33 degrees F still cold but a heat wave here, but snow mixed with rain is suppose to happen.

Today I have major cleaning in the sewing room to happen. I need to get ready to bring the old vintage Singer machine into the house

I think I will have to take down a table of my antique ironing board to make room. Need to go out and measure the length of the cabinet with it open to see where it will fit. It has been so cold I just didn't want to be messing around going in and out.

Yesterday and the night before we had the girls. Mommy was really sick. So Daddy had to work and there are 70 animals to feed so we had the girls. They were for the most part good, but yesterday after lunch they got on each others nerves and they got sent to bed for a nap and they both slept hard. They were in better moods when they got up.

I hope you are all warm and safe. Even Florida and Texas are cold. Hope you are sewing. Chris

New Years Day sewing

I have been working on this for about a week. I had the 4-patches made as leaders and enders and had about 300 of them. They are 2.5 inch squares. 

Made 2 inch sashes and 2 inch cornerstones. The last couple days I have been sewing those on as I found time. This morning I started in on the long seams. There are 192 4-patches in this top. It is for an extra long twin bed. 

Hope you can get some of your projects closer to the finish line in the next few days. Chris