Excitement abounds!!!!!!!

Lucky is very helpful!!  He wanted to be first, and indeed, he is first.

I embarked on a project to organize all of my scraps into colors, and fold them, if large enough to be folded, into a dresser.  I got a NEW dresser!!!  Odd to think I have never had a brand new dresser, but I recently got one for my birthday.  I am using it to store almost all of my fabrics.  Above are my yellows and teals.

Oranges and purples!!  I put a file folder in-between the colors.  

Scraps that were too small to be folded were placed into bags, by color.  This will be perfect for Rainbow quilts, and I have so many quilts planned to use these!!! 

I have touched almost every fabric I own.  Every gifted scrap and piece of lovely quilting goodness!!! It was so much fun!!  And now I have blacks, grays, oranges, teals, pinks, blue, reds and greens all separate and ready to go.  I emptied several small bins, which were getting heavier as time is going on.  Hurrah!!

Now this does not include my 1930's fabrics, of which I have a small bin.  Nor my plaids, nor my reproduction fabrics, of which I have a bin of those too.  But!!!  This is vast majority of everything I own, at my fingertips for use!!

Whoop!!

I found a few fabrics that were downright unsuitable, due to being polyester double knit or just downright ugly.  Out they went.

I got going on pumpkins, due to orange pumpkin fabrics gifted from a friend.  I will have to work on a setting.

These are my 6 inch rainbow blocks so far this year.

My flags, also a squirrel that took me off on a chase!

 And here are my hexie blocks so far for this year.  Nice to work on in the car.

So, I am all excited about the fabric storage dresser!!!  I have three empty drawers, still.

Julie

A soft looking quilt

Hi everyone!  I finished this quilt!  Kind of 1930's, and florals mixed into it as well.  

I have the binding all ready to go as well.

 I got a squirrelish idea to make some flags.  I was off to the races and here is my progress in less than two hours.  Wow!  How fast these are to sew!!

It is deadly hot here.  My garden is turning up its toes!!!

Julie

Lots to tell!

Lots of sewing going on around here, in-between crazy other things!!!  About are my basket blocks.  All put together!  Hurrah!  Kitty is rearranging them how he thinks is best.  I am so glad for good help.  He takes a long nap in the daytime afternoons, so that is truly the only time I can lay out a quilt.  Otherwise...he thinks all things are for his enjoyment and playtime.  Isn't that true?

This is sideways, but hey.  It is done.  My hot pads are burnt up rags, so I made this one out of a leftover block and two layers of batting.  

Well, on the left side is our feral kitty Moustache Cat.  Three raccoons.  and one possum.  All having dinner together without the slightest tiff.  Plenty of food = good friendship.

 I am playing with Jacko lanterns!!!  Not quite that time yet, but it is coming fast.  So....I am making some fun ones.  Happy ones!!!

Now for the drama:

My car.  2009 Rav 4.  I loved it...good mileage, cheap to ensure, and paid for.  Sounds good, right?  Until it would not start.  Replaced the battery, and took off some ignition thing that was burnt up, and I thought all was ok.  Then?  I was driving it over to wash it at the car wash, and go to the store, and was just stopped at the light, to turn down the hill.  The car started shaking!  Hard!  Every warning light in the universe went off on the dashboard! Sputtering, a bit of smoke, and the power steering failed.  The brakes failed!!  The light turned, and I was able to turn it using super nursing powered arms.  Ha!  No kidding, I have strong arms, (turning and lifting patients did some good for them!)  and was able to steer it.  But no brakes, and I was going down the hill.  Why did the brakes fail, by the way?  No explanation of that.  Anyway, the park was coming up, and I was able to screamingly wheel into there, use the emergency brake and stop. I was definitely looked after by a higher power, as there was tons of traffic both before me and after me.  CRAZY!!!! Rush hour on a main thoroughfare.  

Tow truck was called, and they took it the Toyota dealership.  Water pump is leaking, although it had plenty of water left.  Alternator is burnt up.  I tried to jump it and somehow the jumper cables melted.  NO kidding melted!!  Total repair bill is high, in the thousands, plus 5 recall things, as well, which I had no clue of.  

In the end, they would not accept it as a trade...too old. too sick.  Poor little blue car.  I went to a lot of dealerships and drove Subaru, Honda, Prius and Toyota. Considered expensive cars, even...luxury things...SUV's...all the options.  Jeeps too.  The 17 miles per gallon stopped me there.    In the end, Toyota won out, and I bought a newer version of the same car I have had since 2009.  I actually bought it in 2008.   I am glad to have be safe with a safe car to drive again, although I will not like the payments.  Overtime shifts, here I come.

*********************Nurse's Notes********************************

I have been working ICU, which I adore.  I had a darling little twenty something-year-old girl come in, with a vague heaviness in her head.  MRI revealed a goose egg sized tumor in her brain, actually compressing her ventricles and causing left to right shift in her brain!!!

A brilliant girl, just finished with her master's degree in data analysis, and just working a year out of school...this was terrifying for her.  Alone in our country, her parents being in India.  She ended up having emergency brain surgery.  They got the tumor, encased, with no ominous tentacles of astrocytoma down deep.  Friends and community have rallied around her!!

She recognized me immediately after surgery!!  Smiles and sweetness.  I love happy endings!!!

Julie

Warm days!

I received this sampler quilt back from the quilter, Paula, my buddy from childhood.  It is all trimmed and ready for binding.  Kitty cat has accepted it as his own.  

I have been playing with these pink string and scrap log cabin blocks.  I was wondering what to use for an alternate blocks and have been thinking about that.  I have 30 string blocks cut out.

This little heart was given to a cancer patient who came in, and she has decided not to pursue any treatment.  She says all of her family has passed from breast cancer, and she is going to have whatever life she has left, having fun and doing what she wants to....no chemo...no radiation...no surgery.  She weighs about 90 pounds, and is a spit fire.  I just fell in love with her, and we are going to meet for coffee later in the month.

More string blocks, log cabin style.  Don't they look different when they are laid out differently?

Sunflowers!!!  

 This is my little sampler out for Independence Day.  I just love it!

Aren't we so lucky to have this super fun quilting thing to do, to be absorbed in?  Aren't we blessed???

Julie

Hand quilting

Good morning to you!!!  My 4-H friend from years ago made a layer cake out of some of her fabrics and challenged me to make something.  This is how I am using her fabrics.  It seems like 1930's to me, so I am adding my 1930's prints to the mix.  It seems old fashioned and just soft and lovely to me.

I got a bug to make some blue blocks, and so I did.  These are 12 inches finished, so large ones for me.

I have taken this project out of the quilt vault (closet) and have actually added another row to it.  Hurrah!!  Super simple blocks, and kind of modern looking sampler.  

I have started to use up my browns with these blocks.  Someone on the blogs made a quilt like this!!  Please shout out if it was you, please, so I can credit you!!!

I made four so far.

I am so lucky to have good help, although Lucky the kitty seems to be nocturnal, and likes to party all night and sleep during the days.  His eyes are so lovely to me!!!

This is my hand quilting project...Wagon Wheel, a long-ago pieced top.  I made good progress on it, and enjoy the slow, contemplative movement of the needle pulling thread through the layers.  Just good fun!!!

Hope each of you is having a lovely quilting day, or a lovely time with whatever you are up to!!

Julie
 

progress

Good morning!!  I am working on the above quilt of valor for this year.  It is actually all together, and just needs to be sent off to Ray, for his quilt project for veterans.  I did have to discard a block made of red bandana fabric, as the fabric shrunk a lot with pressing.  Polyester, maybe?

I made a few simple blocks for rainbow quilts. Always great fun...and I still have to trim threads.

I have been sorting through old projects, and this one came to the light of day.  Just triangles...a lot of them.  LOTS!!  I put it back in the closet.

Red zig zags!  Before I knew it, I had cut out a whole quilt, using reds.  Bright, bright, bright!!! and so much fun to sew!!

A star block is fun!!

Kitty cat!!  Heaven's sakes, dear...

But mom!!!  I am helping!!!!

My big camera is not speaking to the computer, as the two of them have had a falling out.  I am using my cell phone until they sort out their differences.

Hope you are having a lovely day!

Julie
 

Where to start?

This month is pink month at Rainbow Quilts, by Angela.  Since pink is my favorite color, I have just loved seeing all the pink creations!!  Above are my pink blocks sewn so far.

These are current year blocks combined with orphan blocks from the past.  Since they are all 6 inches finished, they will combine nicely for a sampler quilt.  I will continue to add to them throughout this year. 

This quilt rack was given to me, and I am trading out quilts on it as the whim strikes me.  Great fun!!

I have been hand quilting my plaid string quilt, and I am happy to announce that the quilting is almost done!  Hurrah!  30 minutes a night does wonders in finishing it.  but.....

that has not happened lately!!! because...

We had some intruders in our little farm, squatters if you will.  The Sheriff and a trip there cleaned them all out, replaced all the broken windows and cleaned up all the mess.  wow!!  So that took a lot of time and energy.  Security measures are in place now!!  Electric fence, anyone?  

Then...I felt a warm spot in my kitchen floor.  This felt so nice on my feet for half a second, then I realized...we had a slab leak.  The pipe from the hot water heater had burst, spilling hot water under the house foundation.  This has expanded to replacing all the pipes in the whole house, after the plumbers gave us the bad news.  Let's just say I will be working overtime for quite some time paying for this little adventure!!!

So I am back to quilting, after laundry and cleaning today.  The house is still a disaster after the pipe replacement required all the closets, under sinks and garage area be totally emptied.  wow!!!  The second inspection will be soon, and then I can get things put away and back to semi-normal.

So that is my story!!  and I am sticking to it!!  How are you doing?

Happy Memorial Day to all!!

Julie