Design Wall and Weekly Goals

I've laid out the Merry Go Round blocks and I think they need tweaking.  

I think I need a few more dark edged blocks.  What do you think??  Go to Judy's blog to see what everyone else has on their design wall.

A new project has been started--I loved "Anita's Arrowhead" blocks and decided to try her method of square in a square blocks.   The book is "Cutting Revolution" by Anita Solomon Gross.   

Weekly Goals--

1. Complete two yoyo blocks
2. Sew 10 square in a square blocks
3. 40 more yoyos

Have you thought about Christmas yet?  As in sewing gifts?  Have you started any?  Or maybe you have them finished and waiting?    

 
 

Sunday Stash Report and a Small Finish

Stash Report time--I haven't done a stash report since July!

In This Week--6.5 yards

In Year to Date--152.5 yards

Used This Week--2.5 yards

Used Year to Date--109.25 yards

Stash is ahead 43.25 yards 

Henrietta and I went to a quilt show and I bought two FQ packs--5 yards.  A quick trip to the local quilt store brought in another 1.5 yards.  Looks bleak you say??  HAH!!  Remember all those little yo-yos??  They use a LOT of yardage!  The 1200 I have already made used 21 yards of fabric!  There are several quilt tops waiting to be quilted.  I only count fabric "out" when the project is completely done.  A quilting spree later this year will reverse those numbers.  I know I've used lots of stash--my fabric storage cubes aren't stuffed anymore.

My finish this week was a small one for 2.5 yards.

I hand quilted it using heavy black thread and big stitches to give it a primitive look.  The soft pink binding was a leftover, and the green backing came from the scrap box.  

Please check everyone's stash reports at Judy's Patchwork Times!

Friday Update

I've been lazy lately.  I'm going to be "queen of the UFO's" if I don't finish something quickly.  I dug out a wall hanging?  table cover?  perhaps a doll blanket?  Not sure what it will be used for, but I have been doing a primitive black big stitch by HAND. 

Its been a long time since I've quilted anything by hand!

I'm still making yo yos and setting them into blocks.  Henrietta just groans when she sees me making them.  And--I've infected someone else with the yo yo pox--Toni!! 

Toni finds making yo yos addicting too.  She has even timed herself--9 minutes per yo yo.  Hmmm--my time measure was different--18 yo yos made while doing two loads of laundry!   I hope to have a completed yo yo quilt by next summer.   How about a challenge Toni--we both have "something" completed with our yo yos by next summer?  Loser buys ice cream at the Dairy Dock!

Ken is combining--or maybe I should say he's driving up and down the field mowing over cornstalks.  Very little corn.  Perhaps 5 bu/acres.  Yeah--pretty dismal--but everyone's fields are that way.  

I hope to finish the primitive project--I just need to put the binding on.  I'm #12 on the queen's list--and I don't want to be queen!  

 

Its a Beautiful Morning

Beautiful weather today--reminds me of the song from the 1953 movie  "Oklahoma".  A dab of rain yesterday and last night--just enough to wet the grass and freshen the air.  Today is bright sunshine and nary a breeze.

No goals posted this week, I've been very lazy.  I did sew a backing for a top while I was home.   Cut fabric for Rainbow Scrap Challenge--this month's color is orange--and I love orange!  I have sewn enough blocks for my Merry-Go-Round quilt, next step is laying them out.  More circles cut for yo-yos--remember--I said I was OUT of fabric (at the camper?)  Enough for 200+  yo-yos from my scrap box and odd bits of yardage.  

I've made hundreds of yo-yos while sitting in the recliner listening to the TV.  Over 100 in the last week.  I watch mostly History, Science, PBS, Documentary programming.  Once in a while I find a Quilt Program--or my favorite--BRIT COMS!   

Karla saw this butterfly outside and brought it inside to take pictures--at first we thought it was  a moth--but its really a Question Mark Butterfly---

resting on Karla's hand

With its wings folded up it looks like a dried leaf!  During the summer both sides of the wings are brown.  But in the fall--the other side of the wings look like this--

image from internet

Butterflies undergo a metamorphosis when they change from caterpillar to winged butterfly.  Karla does that too--from this--

to this--

I'm Back

No, I didn't fall off the twig--just busy and not much sewing.  Last weekend when Ken and I were driving I told him I was "out of fabric".   THAT caused him to raise his eyebrows!  I have plenty of fabric at home--but I'm out of fabric for yo-yos at the camper.   I have about 1,100 yo-yos--I think.  

No pattern decided yet--but I've started sewing the yo-yos into "blocks" of 36 yo-yos.  

Labor Day was spent in Minnesota with Laura Beth, Nick, Mason and Asher.  Mason turned 4yo.  

The candles were re-lit several times--blowing out the candles is lots of fun.  But have you ever thought about how much spit goes on the cake?  ROFL!!!

Presents were opened--Mason got an "excavator" from Grandma and Grandpa.  

Asher is working on creeping.  No forward progress yet--he rolls and rolls until he gets where he wants.

Mason has been showing Asher what makes the best toy--a camera.

Its a toy camera but Asher dug it out of the toy box and was holding it up imitating a pose Mason has done hundreds of times.  

I'm planning a few days at home so I can stock up on fabric.  

Motivation Friday

Time to check in.  Last week was Riverboat Days.  Beautiful weather and family fun.  Laura Beth, Nick, Mason and Asher were here.   Mason brought his tent--Nick and he slept in it.  The nights cooled off to the 50's and the days were perfect--75-80F with a slight breeze.  How did we all fit??  Quite well with some planning---

Grandpa bought rolls for breakfast

Luckily someone remembered we needed a high chair---its hard to feed Asher without one! 

One afternoon we walked on the historic Meridian Bridge--its only foot and bike traffic now.  

Laura Beth pushing Asher

If you look carefully you can see Nick and Mason waaay at the other end--its a double decker bridge--they walked across on the bottom level and then back across on the top.   It was a very narrow bridge--not for the faint of heart.  Ken and his dad drove a combine from Nebraska over the top a few years ago.  

One day we stopped at the Visitor Center--Mason dressed in the homesteader clothes for us--

Mason as homesteader

A photo from the parking lot--all the spillway gates are open slightly--

Laura Beth, Mason, Nick, and Asher

All the water was being released through the spillway and the generators were shut off--divers were in the water doing maintenance. 

I'm back to volunteering--a lady came into the Visitor Center and said a butterfly had just "hatched" and was fluffing up outside.   I grabbed my camera and found him (her?) on the paving stones out front and convinced him to climb on my hand for a ride to the bushes.

Its a Swallowtail butterfly---its wings were too crumpled for me to identify which species exactly. 

I've been making yo-yos--there are now 578 in my baggie.   Making yo-yo's is very relaxing.  

Have you been sewing?  Family fun and vacation?   The days are getting shorter and summer is winding down. 

 

Monday Goals

My only goal this week is more yo yos.   It's Riverboat Days starting Friday and I'm going to have fun.  Laura Beth, Nick, Mason and Asher are coming to visit.   Luckily the weather has cooled--Saturday night we had a few scattered showers and Sunday was overcast and in the low 70's.  Hopefully the weather will only be in the 70's during the day and cool at night.

Whenever I am home I never see the Morning Glorys blooming.  Henrietta knew I missed them and took this picture---

These were planted from a mixture of seed so the color was a surprise.   Thank you Henrietta--they are so pretty!

Have a great week!

Rainbow Scrap Challenge Saturday

This month's color is jade/teal.   

3-36 patch blocks, 6 Spinner blocks, and a pile of 4 patches.  Thank you to SoScrappy for hosting this challenge.

All year I can hardly wait for these--

Tomatoes from my garden!  YUM!  Small but tasty.  The extreme and prolonged heat has been hard on them, I had hoped I would have extra to can but I doubt it.   Even with plenty of water the plants didn't blossom or set fruit much when it was so hot. 

And a picture from the Visitor Center---

Why is water being released through the spillway gates?   No, not flooding---extra water needed for navigation (barges).   Because of the drought the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers require extra water to maintain enough depth to float barges in the river channels.  (I think its 9 foot deep across a 30 foot channel--but I'll have to check)   How much water is being released--38,000 cubic feet per second--or 281,200 gallons per second.  

Remember the flood from last year?  This picture shows how high the river rose.  See the line across the sign and on the concrete?  

Its a beautiful day--I think I'll sit outside later and make--surprise---yo yos!!

 

Motivation Friday

Time to check my goals---

1. 50 yo yos--YES
2. 6 Merry Go Round blocks--8 more
3. Rainbow Scrappy blocks--YES
4. Simply Solids--nope

Its been a good week.  A couple of days ago the intense heat broke and today is absolutely beautiful.  Windows are open and a light breeze. Perfect to sit in the recliner and make yo yos!

Keeping my projects together is easy since someone recommended EZ Stor bags.   Heavy big ziplock bags with handles.  Mine travel in this basket---

How I keep it together

Each project has its own bag.   The little $1 basket can hold LOTS of projects!

Making yo yos is addicting.  This week the goal was 50.  I have 91 so far--see the little slip of paper in the baggie?  As I add yo yos I change the count.   The bigger bag has 200+.  Only 1200 more to go. 

Yo yos in baggie

The Merry Go Round blocks are also addicting. 

Merry Go Round blocks

These are made in pairs--the fabrics are reversed from inside to outside.  The half blocks are sewn in horizontal rows--and the next row completes the block. 

I hope you are having nice weather wherever you are.  Did you sew this week??

Monday Goals

Time for weekly goals.   Maybe I will do better this week than last week.

1. 50 yo yos
2. 6 Merry Go Round blocks
3. Rainbow Scrappy blocks
4. Simply Solids

After a few cooler days the forecast is for 99F.  That means its good weather to stay inside and sew.  What is your favorite thing to do when its hot??  

PS--thanks to Henrietta for the new header!

Motivation Saturday

Time to check in on my goals.

1. sew Simply Solids together-nope
2. more Merry Go Round blocks-nope
3. sew more Trip Around the World rows together-nope

Did I do ANYTHING this week??  Yes, I started a new project!

My New Project

Yo yos!   A very portable project--perfect to pick up and take along.  Making yo-yos with a Clover Yo Yo maker is easy.  This size finishes at 45mm--or 1 3/4".   I have a whole shoebox of ugly unloved 5" charms I can use.  The circles are cut about 4.5" in diameter using the lid from a gallon pickle jar for a template.   So far I'm just making yo yos--I'm not sure what pattern I will set them in--but I know if I want something large enough to cover a queen size bed--that uses about 1,500 yo yos.  Not really that many--my bag has 200+ in it already. 

Henrietta humors me in this project, I'm sure she thinks I am quite insane.  But--then I find out SHE'S joined in.   And that magazine--I've found it!  ROFLMAO--not gonna happen!

Last night brought high winds, rain and a bit of hail.  Toni, Eddie and I take refuge in the Administrative building during storms.  While driving across the parking lot I was almost struck by the huge garbage dumpsters.  Luckily I saw them and hit the brakes--I was wondering how I would explain this to my insurance agent--hit and run by an unmanned dumpster??

Dumpsters--almost as big as my car!

These are big dumpsters--I can barely see over the lid.  Even the concrete curbing could not contain them in the high winds.

We knew the storm was coming--we had been watching the radar.  Hmmm--should I take a few things I wouldn't want to blow away in my car?  Yes--might be a good idea.  I packed my meds, my jewelry and purse, and--my featherweight!  Ken listened to my choices and then said "oh yes, the sewing machine would be my FIRST choice."  I think there was a little sarcasm in that comment.

If you had to pick a few items to put in your car to take to a storm shelter--what would you choose??