Just Quilting Along . . .

I'm still working on the wedding quilt, it is 1/3 done.  It has 60 stars and I have 21 of them quilted.  I'm doing it all by hand so it is slow going.  I figure it should be all finished in a couple of weeks, cross my fingers.  I've been trying to decide what to name it.  So far I have come up with Star Struck, Shooting Stars and Wish Upon A Star.  When it is finished, I'll post some pictures and ask for your ideas for a name.

My DH had lunch today with his friend, our accountant.  They get together for lunch every once in a while.  The accountant told us that starting in Jan. 2011 payroll statements will show the value of your health insurance each month as income.  When paying taxes for 2011, in 2012, we will have to pay taxes on the value of our insurance coverage as part of our income taxes.  With that bad news, hope everyone plans ahead to pay more taxes.  Well anyway, back to the lunch.  As long as he was going out, I went to the library.  Got "Angles & Demons" by Dan Brown to read while I ride the exercise bike every morning and two different books on quilting to learn some new information.  After the library, I checked out a quilt shop in town that I had never been to before.  Of course I found patterns for an old BOM they did in 2008 that I loved.  I didn't order any of the patterns yet but I'm thinking about them.  Next, I went to another quilt shop, bought some orange fabric there to try out Kathleen's pumpkin pattern.  I read through her instructions and gave her some feedback but I didn't have any orange fabric to try it out.  Now I do!  After that I stopped by JoAnn Fabrics just to look around.  I was good, didn't by anything there today.  So I had a little bit of fun while hubby was out.

Since the last time I posted about my five projects on my in progress list I remembered I have one more, a set of southwest placemats, that I have the fabric for, just haven't started them.  So since I have so many projects I'm already working on, I strayed a little and made myself an apron to hold clothespins.  I love to hang laundry outside to dry.  Saves money on electricity and they smell so good!  I had been keeping my clothespins in a plastic grocery bag and replacing it when it wore out.  I've looked on the internet for a free pattern and finally found this one.   Here' mine:

I love the fabric, it reminds me of something my grandmother would have used to make an apron.  I did alter the pattern a little bit by stitching a seam right down the middle of the apron pocket to make it into two separate pockets.  It is great for hanging the clothes out.  It is so easy to reach into the pockets for the clothespins.  I love it, now if it will stop raining so I can hang the clothes out!  Oh, sorry to show my fat little knees!

Not much else is new.    Hope everyone is enjoying their quilting time!

Time to catch up . . .

It's been a little over a week since I wrote anything.  I have been busy with projects.  The center section of the wedding quilt for my step daughter is all sewn together.  Next is pressing and making the flying geese border.  I have the individual "geese" made, just have to press, stitch together end to end and sew 'em on.  It will still be a while for the finished product, but it is coming along.  She arrived in Florida today to join her husband at the Air Force Base.  It was a long drive from Albuquerque to Florida with a few days stop in Arkansas for her but she is home now and very happy to be there.

I have not worked on my other quilts for a while since I was concentrating on the wedding quilt.  Since Theri and Katie made their lists, here is my little list of projects to finish:

1.  Star Struck wedding quilt
2.  Patriot's Home - I have one block quilted so far
3.  Two Piece Puzzle - Working on putting the HST together for the star blocks
4.  Snowbound - June and July blocks to complete
5.  Wood Badge\Eagle Scout quilt - rag quilt needs a couple more patches sewn on, then washed and dried to fluff the "rag" edges.

My list is not as impressive as Katie and Theri's.  I do have a bunch of ideas for new quilts once these are all done though. 

In other news, we bought a new bed right before our guests for the wedding came to visit.  They got the "old" bed, we put it in the spare bedroom.  Otherwise, they would have been sleeping on a big inflatable bed.  Our new one is heavenly!  It is one of the extra deep mattresses so I feel like a princess sitting up on a high bed.  It is so comfy, I love it!  Next, the monitor for our computer was getting bad so we replaced it with a nice new wide screen one.  Now the colors are bright again and looking at quilts on it is lots more fun. 

That's about all for now!  Enjoy your quilting time.   

Wedding was wonderful . . .

My stepdaughter's wedding was yesterday evening and it was beautiful.  She held it at a small winery with beautiful grounds.  Lots of trees, bushes, a pond and of course, lots of grape vines.  She was beautiful and the groom looked wonderful in his USAF dinner dress uniform.  It was all just perfect.  Her uncle officiated for the ceremony and they chose some meaningful readings and their vows were great.  My husband looked splendid in his tux as Father of the Bride.  It was a nice evening and lots of fun.

Our guests left for home today so things will be back to normal soon.  The groom flies back to Florida where he is stationed on Tuesday and the bride is leaving Wednesday to drive to Florida with a stop mid-way to visit aunts and uncles.  I can get back to working on her quilt then.

I was very surprised on Tuesday with a package from Katie.  I won her giveaway and these lovely things arrived:

Remember these great items?  These plus a wonderful chocolate bar and the July/August 2010 issue of Quiltmaker magazine full of great patterns and information.  I haven't had much time to look at everything but I am so happy to be the winner.  Thanks Katie! ! ! 

Well, I have been up since 6:30 this morning so it is time to take it easy!

Back in business!

I am back on line.  I was checking out blogs on Saturday morning and a virus attacked our computer.  It would not do anything.  We had someone from the Geek Squad out today, he spent a little over 3 hours working on it and the computer is all better now.  I didn't realize how much I enjoy spending time on the computer until it was out of commission for a while! 

I finally started hand quilting Patriots Home, so far just one block done.  I haven't worked on Two Piece Puzzle since we returned from our trip to Arkansas, Missouri and Illinois two weeks ago.  It is on hold for a little bit.  I also have not worked on the Snowbound block for June yet and the July one just came out.  I will have to catch up on those.  I have been working on the quilt for my stepdaughter's wedding gift.  The wedding is Thursday evening, we have family coming in from Arkansas and Texas, so I will not have much time in the next few days for sewing.  I didn't plan to have the quilt finished in time for the wedding anyway.  She will be driving to Florida in a little truck with a good sized dog and not much room to pack things.  I will just mail the quilt to them once I get it finished.   It will be a nice surprise for later. 

I think it is time to relax a little and watch some TV with my wonderful husband.  Hope everyone had a nice, safe holiday and enjoy your quilting!