January 29, 2009

My youngest daughter and I have decided to leave the chill behind and to head for my sister's house at the beach for the weekend. My sister, Melanie, is also working on the DJ quilt, so our plan is to do a difficult triangle together, and then to begin work on a quilt top that we started cutting out a couple of years ago. We are each making our own. It is a full-sized quilt, so we won't be finishing the top this weekend, but it will be fun to finally get started on it. I hope to get it all prepped and ready to go tonight. We will leave right after I get off work on Friday. I can't wait!

Besides cutting out pieces for that quilt, yesterday I also quilted a couple of thread in my Women of the Bible quilt while I watched American Idol. I also embroidered a couple of threads in my "Over the River" quilt panel.

January 25, 2009

I don't have any pictures to post of my weekend's progress, but I feel like I really got lots accomplished! I did a DJ block and triangle, worked on my borders for O'Tannenbaum, and traced another panel on my emboidered quilt (it is a black and white winter quilt called "Over the River and Through the Woods"). It has 3 embroidered horizontal panels, and I have just about finished embroidering one, so I need to get the next one prepped. I'll post a picture of the first panel as soon as I get it done. Tonight, I am going to start the DJ block, FireweedFlower. I only have 6 blocks to go!

My exercise routine is going well. We have walked or taken a run everyday except today. I am hoping to lose a little more weight this week!

January 22, 2009

I finished this quilt about a week ago. It is for my husband's second cousin's daughter's son....I did that on purpose! In spite of the fact that these are fairly distant relatives and that they live 1500 miles away, we are very close and get together yearly. Little Alexander was born in November. The fun thing about this quilt is that when I asked his mommy what colors she would like his quilt to be, she picked these, and I already owned this fabric....such a deal and a great stash reducer!

I'll put this in the mail to Kentucky tomorrow...

January 21, 2009

Today was a great day! I had an appointment with the oral surgeon (who pronounced me nearly healed), so I only taught half a day. I met my daughters Lindsey and Laura along with my grandson (Logan- 16 months) at a cute little nearby town. We had lunch and shopped for Lindsey's birthday gifts ( she turned 30 yesterday). Lindsey and I came home and took a two mile run/walk, which felt great.

I spent some time hand quilting on my Women of the Bible quilt, while I watched a little TV. Now it is bedtime.

My goal tomorrow is to finish cutting out the borders for my O 'Tannenbaum quilt top so that I can get it put together this weekend.

January 17, 2009

Instead of working on my O Tannenbaum top, I decided to put together a pillow top that my sister Priscilla embroidered for me. I thought it would be fun to do it while I was with her so that she could see the finished product. I will put it away for a few months and bring in out in the spring. Now to get busy on O Tannenbaum!

January 16, 2009

I am awaiting the arrival of 2 of my sisters. We are gathering at my house for a quilting weekend. They both live about 2 and a half hours away. I am going to work on a UFO or two. One is O Tannenbaum, which I started last year about this time, hoping to have it finished for Christmas....you see how well that turned out!

January 14, 2009

I'm off work today, up early, and headed to the oral surgeon. I am having a dental implant done, and today is stage 2. I'm hoping to get home and feel well enough to enjoy the beautiful weather we are having. It is supposed to be 66 here today. There are serious weeds that need to go to make room for the tulips which will pop up soon.

I have added row L to my Dear Jane quilt. I am doing a presentation tomorrow night on the quilt, so I was inspired to get my finished blocks added to the top. I am nearly done sewing down the binding on a baby quilt for a niece. Maybe I can finish that up today too.

Probably no exercise today, considering the oral surgery!

Trying again

This is the Women of the Bible quilt top that I am currently hand quilting.

Later that day....

Here I am again....took a run/walk with daughter Lindsey this afternoon. That's 2 days in a row! We went 2 miles at the blazing speed of 15 minutes per mile!!! I will not be running for the next two days. Hopefully, I'll be able to go again on Friday.

I posted a picture of one of my finishes from last year. This is the Sarah Fitch quilt that is on display in Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts. My oldest daughter, Sarah, was engaged to Daniel and wanted me to make her a red and white quilt. I saw this one on a trip to the East Coast with my mom and sisters in the fall of 2000 and decided this one was perfect: it was made by a Sarah for her husband, Daniel. It took me forever to make. It is hand-quilted, which is something I really enjoy doing. I always have a quilt in the rack that I am hand-quilting. Most of my quilts are machine quilted, though, because I am 57 years old and there aren't enough years left for me to hand quilt all the quilts I want to make.

I've added a picture of the quilt I am currently hand quilting. It is the "Women of the Bible" quilt that I pieced and appliqued a few years back. I am using black thread, and I am quilting it pretty lightly. I hand pieced some blocks, machine pieced some, and hand appliqued the rest. I think I am really going to like this one.

I hope to post a picture of my family tomorrow. Will see what I can do!

Shutterfly | Shared Picture Detail

Shutterfly Shared Picture Detail

Day 1: January 12, 2009

Today I set up a blog...new experience for me! I have enjoyed reading blogs, and I am a journal writer (boring though my life is!), but here goes:

Since we have begun a new year, I have set several quilting/lifestyle goals for myself.
1) Finish my Dear Jane quilt top.
2) Finish my O'Tannenbaum quilt top.
3) Make a quilt for my youngest grandchild, Emmaline Lorraine, who is 7 months old.
4) Make a quilt for a dear friend, using the Lewis and Clark fabric line, which is about 2 or 3
years old.
5) Lose twenty pounds.
6) Compete in a half marathon in May.

I have 160 blocks done on my DJ top, which means I have 9 center blocks to do. I have only finished 16 triangles, so I have much to do there. I put two more rows together and joined them to what I had already done. Tonight, I hope to finish row L and join it.

I will add pictures as soon as I'm able.