Friday night Scrappy Fun

hello hello everyone - it's Friday night - yippee!  I'm going to stay up very very very late and sew, sew, sew.   My goal???? I want to diminish this basket of strings, which is overflowing...  

and turn these strips into these blocks:

So - the question is - how many blocks like that can be made out of that string basket? 
And how long would it take????

And - can I focus on one task long enough to do it?

That answer I know - of course not !!!
But I will do some of them before I move to other projects...

Happy Weekend...

Kate

HEXO - PROGRESSO

Yowee  - this is getting BIG !!!!  I think, when this is completed all the way around, that this is the primary part of this quilt... then I'll need to make the corners square with some designs, and maybe an external border, and then it will be finished... oh heck, that will only take another year or so!!!!

...............stay tuned...

and happy quilting,

Kate

More Ugly

Hi everyone - well, I am finished with the Ugly Fabric Challenge, hosted by my friend and fellow quilter on the Sunshine Yahoo site!  She sent a bunch of us a fat quarter of this lovely:

You know, I remember when I would have thought that was just lovely... 
Well, here at the blocks I made ( and a couple of duplicates of some as well):

So now these lovelies go back in the mail to her, and she will put everyone's blocks together in a lovely charity quilt....

What fun... and thanks, Ann, for a fun challenge!!

Happy Quilting, everyone,

Kate

Is it ugly???

This is my first block from the Ugly Fabric Challenge... 

(cutting the fabric into small pieces helped a lot, of course)...

What do you think - on the Ugly Scale????

1 - Bug Ugly
3 - Get that out of my sight!
5 - just boringly ugly
7 - it's ok, but don't tell anyone you made it
10 - actually, fairly decent looking...

Let's see - I'll give it - oh, an 8  -  (so why am I putting it on the web??? cause I'm nuts)

Happy Quilting,

Kate

An Ugly Fabric Challenge

Hi everyone !!!!  I am participating in an UGLY FABRIC CHALLENGE !! how fun... it is sponsored by a member of the Yahoo Online Sunshine Guild...  she donated us all a fat quarter of her UGLIEST FABRIC.... and here is what came in the mail today.....................................

(I don't actually think it is THAT ugly).

When I was opening the package, DH said "oh, what do you have ", and I responded, 'oh someone sent me some UGLY fabric'...

He said - 'gee honey, that's not very nice'....

The challenge is to make as many 12 inch blocks as possible from the ugly fabric.  Then we will send them back to their "mother", who will make charity quilts from the blocks... 

 So - here is some of the ugly fabric made into lovely flying geese....

What will I do next?  Why, I have no idea...

Meanwhile, I have been binding this quilt below.  It is a guild quilt for donation - a longarmer quilted a bunch of them, and then we all adopted them for binding...

Last night it was my handwork for the Emmys... but I left it in the chair unfinished...

Voila - here's what i found when I came home from work:

"Gee Ma", he said"  I am so glad you quilt for a hobby"!  to which I replied,                              "Yes, dear George, I make all these quilts just for you so you can nap on each one one time before I wash them!!!!  "

Happy Quilting to everyone...

 Kate



IN PRAISE OF THE BOYS

This is my DH - disassembling the last quilt frames from last year's quilt show. Isn't he cute there with his little apron? He isn't really as lonely as this photo seems - there were lots of DH and DS around helping.

I really don't think today is a "day"for the boys, like Father's Day or Grandfather's Day - but I think we Quilters should create a day to say a special thank you to the "boys"... I see them everywhere quilters gather...doing things for us:

Toting stuff from car to meetings

Waiting outside quilt stores.... patiently (or not)

Driving us to quilt festivals - and then going looking for a Bass Pro Shop nearby

Building quilt frames

Putting up flyers

Helping guilds with 'stuff'...

Carrying sewing machines

supplying trucks and vans

testing quilts for 'snuggleness'

oh - and here's a special one - my DH actually likes to vacuum in my sewing room!

and a not-so-happy one - locating missing pins by stepping on them!

What about the 'boys' in your quilting life? Give them a shout out...

Happy Sunday quilting,

Kate

My Marching Orders Came in the Mail Today !

Who was that crazy person who said "if you'll piece 'em, I'll quilt 'em..???" meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..

Who'd have thunk 20 tops would fit in one box...

These are charity tops for the Sunshine quilt Guild, who is doing a big project of 9-patch children's quilts in honor of Bev of Alaska, one of our group who passed away a few months ago...
I can't wait to quilt them - they are so cheerful and bright.

and speaking of cheerful and bright - these were leftovers - I love the bright yellow with them... this one is quilted and ready to donate... I do love these little charity quilts!



I finally got a photo editing software, so I can remove DH's legs from all my quilts... but I will miss them... so for now, they are still there!!! Nice looking legs for a 62-year old, huh? You should see his cute little behind. Just a little handful. (oops)

Kate

A FAVORITE NEW THING

Every now and again I find something I just think is fabulous - so here goes:

The Williams-Sonoma Silocone Trivet... you can buy it on their web site for $10.00.

Yep - Silicone (do people really put this in their breasts?? ok, never mind that thought)...

and not only a trivet - a pot holder, too.

This is just the neatest thing - it's silicone, so heat doesn't penetrate at all - it holds pots and pans very firmly... and it WASHES... so

it's the last potholder you will ever need to buy...

Every woman in my family is getting two of these for Christmas presents...

(no, I don't get a cut - heavens, I wish I did!!)

My favorite new thing for the moment...

Kate

FABULOUS QUILTY FUN

Oh have I been having some great fun in the past few days.... I 've been working on three great projects.....

Victoria of Bumble Beans commission several of us to make blocks from a new quilt line, called Cloud 9 - so I did a paper pieced block, that came out like this: Watch her blog to see what wonderfully creative thing she does with these blocks... http://bumblebeansinc.blogspot.com



And I started a new paper pieced quilt from a pattern in Bella Bella Quilts... this is just the center medallion... and it's LOTS of fun...


And then I put this little baby top together with some simple instructions, to post on the web at Bumble Beans for anyone who wants to make an easy, simple quilt for their charity drive for families who are transitioning from homelessness to being in a home again... it's a 700-quilt goal and its a fabulous initiative. Stop by and leave a quilt in the Comment section !





And now today I get to go over to Berkeley, CA to a wonderful shop called New Pieces, and pickup some fabric I need to continue on the Bella Bella quilt... and have a wonderful lunch at one of the many great restaurants in Berkeley...





Hope everyone is having a great Sunday!





Kate

A Winner From the Twilight Zone

cue the music..... can you hear it????

We have a winner for the Halloween fabric - the fabric with the little Halloween devils going out to Trick-or-Treat....

........................more Twilight Zone theme..................

and - you won't believe it - the Random Number Generator picked.............

NUMBER THIRTEEN !!!!!!!! .......................................music louder now.......................

And the lucky Number Thirteen is Robin from RsIsland Crafts....
and when you visit Robin's blog, you learn that she is a member of something called "The Ghoul's Guild"............

LOUDER TWILIGHT ZONE THEME...

"There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man.............." Do you remember????

Congrats, Robin... I need your snail mail addy please - for some reason I can not email you... send it to krountree@ithaca.edu.

thanks all for commenting, and to the new Followers for joining in this madness.

Kate

Reporting a Hit and Run

Hi all - this isn't the REAL PHOTO - but my sister and I are heros for reporting a hit and run...

A couple of weeks ago while we were in Yosemite, we saw a camper hit a car in a parking lot.  The car was empty.  The camper tore up the car pretty bad.  The camper stopped, but my sister said "write down the license numbers"...  (duh we did not think of just taking a photo of the vehicles)... the old technology (pencil on the back of something) won out.

When we left Yosemite, we tried to give the information to the Park Ranger, who was this blond chick with gum - shall we say very active gum...  she would not take it - ha your tax dollars at work....

So - my sister flew home to North Carolina, and gave the info to a friend who is an officer there , who said:  1) thank you this is great;  and 2) BAD BAD Park Ranger...

WELL - it turns out the camper left the scene without leaving any information... and the people who owned the car (it was a rental) were going to be out BIG BIG BUCKS... the damage estimate was TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS....  but they had a big deductible so they had to pay a lot more than they should have, since they were completely innocent...   so they were HAPPY HAPPY.

And the doormat who hit the car and left (in a rental camper) is in a bad way, I fear - not just an accident but leaving the scene...

I'm so glad we could help the man who had the rental car... I can't imagine how surprised he was to hear the story of the accident in California that got reported in North Carolina !!!!

Life is never dull.

Kate

Giveawaaaaaaaaaaaay

 Are you planning Halloween sewing???? If so, perhaps this fabric is just what you need for some Halloween project...  It's good, quilt-shop quality fabric that I got on sale a couple of years ago, and I'm ready to pass it along to someone who will make good use of it! 

Here's the detail shot - color is off because of the flash - but you can see the little adorable pitchford creatures... with barbed tails... I give up on what these are supposed to be... but they sure are cute... 

Leave me a message and tell me what you'd like to do with the fabric - there's almost 1.5 yards of it...

Followers can comment twice - so if you aren't already a follower, jump in... 

I'll choose the random winner on Friday September  the 9th, at 6 pm Pacific time. 

(sorry, no international entries - sorry)

I am sooo happy to see this go to a loving home!!!!

Kate

Fence o' Quilts

Hello hello on a fine Friday before a Holiday Weekend!!!

These lovely cuties are for the Wrap-A-Smile Foundation, which sends quilts along with medical teams who travel abroad to do facial restoration surgeries for children.

The 9-patch blocks were donated from qulters on the Yahoo Sunshine Quilt Guild, in honor of a beloved member, Bev Bennett of Alaska, who passed away... more than 1200 blocks were collected...

EGAD - DID SHE SAY 1200 BLOCKS - YES SHE DID - lots of people loved Bev!

..............and, no, I don't have to finish them all - this is my 'share' here.

So - these are just a small part of the project - but I do love the way they look all hanging on the fence...

..............hope some little one loves them , too!

Have a fabulous quilty weekend...

Kate

Hey Ma, you should Give Something Away!

fold?? who needs to fold this laundry?? I will press it this way

George says its time for a giveaway... 
He says we have too much stuff around -  so - I ask you - WHAT should I give away???

Fabric????

Books????

Patterns ????

  Any suggestions???

Kate