Design Wall Monday and Weekly Goals

These are what I worked on this weekend--

40 pinwheel blocks for the borders of Honeysweet Pinwheels.  Please see everyone's design wall at Patchwork Times.  I spent the weekend sewing with the Iowa ladies.  Remember that I said these women are hard core quilters?  I made a sign to hang on the door--

One of the ladies is a massage therapist, and her vehicle has her business name and phone number on it.  A few gentlemen studied the vehicle in front of the door, then must have seen the sign.  Gina received a phone call asking if she was in town giving massages?  I do wish they had come inside, would we have been a surprise??  (We sew at the local Sr. Center)

We also made the trek to the fabric store and I did a little stash enhancing.  Not a lot of yardage--

Mostly TOTs for sashings/borders/bindings, a few lights (my stash is sadly lacking in lights) and a couple of purples.   I better get to work on binding before my yardage in overtakes my yardage out!  The QOV from my guild is loaded and ready to quilt--

Its a bento box quilt in red/white/blue.  

Weekly Goals--

1. Quilt QOV
2. Setting triangles on Spinning blocks
3. Honeysweet Pinwheel center together
4. Bind a quilt

A short list, I'm tired from sewing in Iowa.  Its cold and rainy right now and no change in weather forecast for the rest of the week.  Good weather to stay inside and sew.  Summer is coming though, I need to get the camper cleaned and packed.  I'm looking forward to volunteering again this summer.  Do you have plans?  A vacation?
  

 

Design Wall Monday and Weekly Goals

Usually you see pictures of construction on a design wall, mine is one under "de-construction"--

 This is how the blocks looked before de-construction--

They looked okay but I wasn't in love with them.  And then I saw how Elaine finished her blocks.  WOW!!  And so the de-construction began...  Please see everyone's design wall at Patchwork Times.

Weekly Goals--

1. Finish center of Island Chain
2. cut squares for Honeysweet Pinwheels
3. Load QOV top/piece backing

Its going to be a short week.  Fri-Sat-Sun is sewing with the Iowa ladies.  I need to rest up, those ladies are serious sewers!  Saturday I finished quilting a Bricks and Stepping Stones top--

 

Next will be trimming/binding it.  I set a personal goal of 10 tops quilted by May 1st, this was #10.  I love this pattern, (thank you Bonnie Hunter) its an anything goes for fabric.  Finishes to 86x106", a nice bed size.  My thread choices were a little different.  I had two threads I liked--

  

A dark purple Permacore and a variegated YLI called Hollyhock.  The Princess likes Permacore.  The YLI was noticeably thicker, especially in the darker dyed sections.  I have had the dark dyed sections be weaker and break during quilting (what a headache).  I thought, what if I put the variegated in the bobbin and it didn't have the stress from running through the needle at high speed?  It worked like a charm.  The dark thread blends in on the busy front, and the variegated looks pretty on the backing--

The weather is definitely more like spring.  The grass is getting green, trees are budding, robins are staking out territories.  Today we put the snowblower away and got out the patio set.  

Has spring arrived where you live?  

Design Wall Monday and Weekly Goals

These blocks are on my design wall--

Its a Kim Brackett pattern called Island Chain.  I made the quilt bigger and it has given me lots of headaches.  Truly--headaches!  I have to sit on a chair in front of the wall with the book/picture.  I need my glasses to see the picture.  Then, when looking at the wall I shove my glasses on top of my head.  I pieced parts of the blocks as I put them on the wall, not my favorite method but necessary to make the interlocking pattern appear.  Not interlocking so much as optical illusion.  This is hopefully the final layout.  See everyone's design walls at Patchwork Times.

I finished quilting the Ozark Leaf quilt.  That quilt does NOT want to be a finish!  While quilting the little green flange strip wanted to flip over. Grrr.  But Ken made a quick trip to the Dollar store for Elmer's School glue.  I glued the edge down, then took the iron and pressed/dried it flat.  

Yes, while it was on the Princess.  Used my hand underneath as the pressing mat.  I had to do each section as I advanced it on the rollers, but it WORKED!!  Never overlook School glue as a tool while quilting!

Weekly Goals--

1. work on Island Chain
2. quilt a top
3. hand sew binding

Those will be my goals this week.  No goals last week, I went to stay with LB and Nick, attend guild, babysit the boys while they were house hunting.  The offer they put in on a house has been accepted, now its just the endless details.  The weather was beautiful while I was there, Saturday everyone went to the park.

Mason

 

Asher

Sign at Park

Grandpa doesn't always get to go along, the week before he did and Asher wanted Grandpa to read his story before naptime.

Grandpa reading story

The weather has turned cold again but we didn't get any snow.  Highs are in the 40's dropping to the low 20's at night.  

No plans for this week, just stay warm and sew.  I have a few tulips coming up and saw the columbine and peonies were peeking out.  Doubt they're doing any growing in this cold--they better wait for warmer weather!