Design Wall Monday and Weekly Goals

The Honeycomb blocks are still on my wall--

I've been playing with block placement.  Double Irish Stars has been worked on--

I have 30 star blocks made.  Mine is scrappy so there is an assortment of colors.  Its a BOW at Piecing the Past Quilts.  Stars and an Irish Chain--perfect!

Weekly Goals--

Stay Centered
Honeycomb
Double Irish Stars
Keep on Binding
Fold some fabric

These are what I'll work on this week.  I'm linking with Oh Scrap, Moving it Forward, Monday Making, and Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.  

~Lori1R in South Dakota~

Motivation Friday

Time to check on my weekly goals--

Catch up With Double Irish Stars QAL--YES

Finish the Stay Center colored blocks--YES

Work on binding the orange quilt--YES

Put away some of the folded fabric--no

Here are the Star blocks I made this week--

Lots of flying geese in these blocks.  I am not fond of making flying geese but I love the star blocks--I make them a bit bigger and trim to fit--

Not the fastest way but it works for me.   Since the design wall was empty I put more blocks on it--

These are the Honeycomb blocks I worked on at the Nebraska retreat.   The wall is not big enough, there is still another row of blocks not up there.  I'll play with block placement for a while.

And my holiday cacti have decided to bloom--

That is one pot that has two different varieties in it--a fuschia/white and a yellow.  There used to be a white one but I think it died last spring--stalk rot.  These plants cover a piano bench.  There is one blooming in the sewing room, I wanted it next to this one but its too crowded.  I have a soft spot for holiday cactus, Ken's grandmother had a huge one, and his mother has a large one too.  Ken took good care of them this summer, he said he watered them once a week.  If he remembered.  

There is still fabric to fold and put away.  I have most my block parts cut for now so I can start putting fabric away.  Maybe this weekend.   

~Lori1R in South Dakota~

Stash Report

This week I finished Strip Twist for 8 yds out.  But I bought a 20 strip jelly roll, 10 yards of solid black, and 8 yards of white with tiny navy triangles for a background.  My new stash report is--

Stash Report

Added this week--19.38 yds

Add YTD 201.88 yds

Out this week--8yds

Out YTD 207.65

I'm ahead 5.77 yards! 

I'm happy with these numbers, my goal is to turn my stash over to allow for new fabric.  

~Lori1R in South Dakota~

Design Wall Monday and Weekly Goals

The green blocks on the design wall are sewn together--

I might add a narrow border, right now the top is 70x80".  The design wall is now freed for other blocks!  I'm linking up with Oh Scrap, Moving it Forward, Monday Making, and Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

Weekly Goals--

Catch up With Double Irish Stars QAL

Finish the Stay Center colored blocks

Work on binding the orange quilt

Put away some of the folded fabric

That will be enough to keep me busy.   Putting away some of the folded fabric is part of my yearly goal of refolding/reorganizing a section of stash per month.  

~Lori1R in South Dakota~

OMG

My October OMG was to finish binding Strip Twist--

YAH!!  Its done!  This will be a boys donation qulit.  I estimate 8yds of stash used.  The backing was donated by Judy B in MN--

Don't you love those skull & crossbones?  Thank you Judy B!!  I'm linking with Elm Creek Quilts.  My OMG for November--can I have two?  I will bind Mary's Orange quilt and keep up with Double Irish Stars QAL.  I'm linking with Elm Street Quilts OMG.

And a Rant/Pet Peeve.  Parking in handicapped spaces or where there is NO PARKING drives me crazy.  This was the second time in a couple weeks the same vehicle parked this way (Walmart Yankton SD)--

This vehicle is parked where the handicapped vans park, the extra room is for parallel parking.  If a handicapped van that needs the extra room for a ramp/lift wants to park there--they can't.  It caught my eye because its from the same county in South Dakota I am from--

There wasn't a handicapped license plate or hanging card.  Ken says I am assuming they were not handicapped etc, but that is no excuse for parking there.  Its a NO PARKING ZONE.  And they blocked the handicapped space!   Off my soapbox now.  

LORI1R in South Dakota

Blue Stay Centered blocks

This week Stay Centered saw the first blocks pieced--

A few of the light blue blocks are pretty light but I think they will be fine when put in the entire quilt.  Stay Centered is a free pattern you can find here. 

  

The design wall still has these blocks on it--

2Rs made these blocks--she has the book.   Yesterday I sewed the blocks into rows and today I pressed the seams.  I'm not taking them OFF the design wall until they are sewn together.

And I completed the first week of Double Irish Stars--

Its a free QAL and I LOVE the pattern.  

That's how my week has gone.  The camper is home, unpacked and mostly put away.  I had to sort/organize a bit in the sewing room to get to the design wall but there is a narrow goat path now.   

Lori1R in South Dakota

 

Friday

More wildlife photos!  A small Bull Snake.  They are a very aggressive species, he definitely was NOT happy at visiting the Visitor Center.  See the "S" shape he's in, ready to strike at us.  And strike he did--but he was just a small snake, maybe 14" long.  We were careful to stay out of reach, although not poisonous, they DO bite and the small teeth can break off in a wound. 

We released him behind the Visitor Center in the Native Prairie plant beds--

See how well he blends in with the dirt?  Bull Snakes eat anything they can, from insects to lizards, frogs & toads, mice/moles, and will climb in trees and bushes to raid bird nests for eggs and hatchlings.

The tomato plants are still blooming--

I don't think they will make tomatoes this year!

I opened my bargain jelly rolls--

Very happy with the mix of colors and patterns!  Yellow/greens to blues to teals to grass greens and purples.   No plan for them yet.  

Its been a gamut of fall weather.   From 30-40F to 89F with bright sun on Wednesday, then a cold front blew in from the north--almost blew us off the top of the hill!  Thursday was rain rain and more rain.  Cold and soggy.  I stayed in the camper ALL DAY!!  Summer is over, fall is here and it will be time to pack up the camper and head home.  Sigh  I LOVE summer!  

~Lori1R in Soggy Nebraska~

OMG - October and Stash Report

Time to pick an October OMG.  I need to finish binding Jelly Roll Twist quilt.  Its been waiting for six months.   Time to "Git R Done"!

I'm linking up with Elm Street Quilts for my October OMG. 

A few pictures from the Nebraska retreat--

Dee thought her car had lots of stuff in it.  Hey, she could still see out the back, enough room for more projects!

She started working on her Wedge project.  Umm, something wrong with this picture!  She switched to her L/E project--Beaded Lanterns.  

Another Oops!  The two neutrals were supposed to be on either side of the purple square!   Beaded Lanterns is a free pattern, be sure to check it out.  I plan to make one, I'm undecided on the background color.  Liz used a dark pink--

And Dee used a neutral (and her shower rod!)

Teresa used a dark blue--

I like their colors better than the gray.   My strips look very "bleah" with gray.  I ordered some colored backgrounds for possible choices--

Country solids were on sale at JoAnns 70% off, that made them $1.80@yd.  I bought 10 yards of light yellow, 6 yards of teal, and 5 yards of a very light teal/green.  There were 20 strip jelly rolls not far from the checkout, and I used a 50% off and a 40% off coupon--which make 40 batik strips $14.29.  A good price.  They are blues/greens/purples/yellows, I'm not sure where I will use them.  My updated stash report is--

Stash Report

Added this week--23.70 yds

Add YTD 182.5 yds

Out this week--0yds

Out YTD 199.65

I'm ahead 17.15 yards!

My OTT light was used at retreat--

When I sew dark strips on the black featherweight I need the OTT light.  It has four settings and a port for a USB cord to charge my phone/tablet.  There is no way to change the light bulb(?) so I guess you just use it until it dies!  We'll see how long that is.  

Saturday I sewed on Honeycomb--I finished the last 28 alternate blocks.  

There's not enough room in the camper to lay them all out, so they're packed away to wait for the design wall at home.  Sorta like an Irish Chain but not quite.  I think I will have to make another one of these, perhaps all greens or oranges or browns.  I'm linking to Monday Making, Oh Scrap, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, and Moving it Forward.

More volunteering this week.  My only sewing might be binding, but progress is progress!  

~Lori1R in Nebraska~

Friday Updates

A few updates here.  The clematis I think is a Niobe. 

The lighter stripe in the center of the petals matches that variety.  The Lays potato chip people have sent me a nice letter saying they are following up on the glove I found in my bag.  

Tracking it to the point of manufacture.  Profuse apology.  They also sent me oodles of coupons.  But the Reinhart Food Service--NADA!  No response like they promised.  I wonder if they followed up at all on this driver/incident?  Very disappointing. 

And Tuesday while at HyVee (local grocery store) a car drove through the pedestrian crossing in front of me.  I yelled "that's a stop sign *******"!!  I apologize to everyone who might have heard me.  He stopped at the first stop sign (there are two crossings, one for each door) did he think that meant he didn't have to stop at the second one?  

Last night I practiced using the convection oven.  I found a recipe for "Slab Apple Pie".

It turned out pretty good, except the bottom crust is a bit soggy.  I followed the recipe with no changes.  

No sewing so far this week.  Volunteering, laundry, and staying warm is all I've been doing.  A little heat is on in the camper, its a bit chilly.  I am not ready for cold weather!   I am buried under tomatoes, who knew five plants could produce so many fruits.  

I'm trying to look forward to being "home" and sewing.  Hard for me to do, I enjoy the summer so much!  But I am planning new starts and finishing others.  

Are you "into" fall?  Do you have some sewing planned?  What is your favorite part of fall?  

~Lori1R in Nebraska~

Design Wall Monday on Tuesday

Over the weekend I sewed with a group of Nebraska ladies at a retreat.  We stayed at Camp Moses Merrill in Linwood Nebraska.  Wonderful facilities, good food, and quilters--it was a perfect weekend.  I worked on Honeycomb--

First I made the triple 9 patch blocks-I needed 28 of them.  Next I worked on the alternate blocks--these used 4 patches--

I used brown, orange, green, blue and purple in the blocks.   All the 4 patches are made and I have the background pieces cut.  It just needs assembling now.  The pattern called for 1.5" strips but I used 2" strips, I liked the final quilt but wanted it a bit bigger.  These strips were pulled from my tote of 2" strips cut from scraps and stash.   My goal is to have it put together completely by January 15th.  I'm linking with Oh Scrap, Monday Making, and Small Quilts and Doll Quilts, and Free Motion by the River.  

This week is full of volunteering.  Soon we'll have to take the camper home--that's always a depressing job.  I MISS volunteering--going home ushers in cold weather and winter--not my favorite time of year!

~Lori1R in Nebraska~

What we found in the camper on Sunday night

There's lots of wildlife here.  Sunday night Ken was staring at the floor and said "Quick--come catch him"!!  It was a tree frog!  How he got in the camper I don't know but there he was.  I put him in an ice cream bucket and took him with me to the Visitor Center the next morning so I could take pictures.  Karla was ready with the camera, I was supposed to catch him.  Well I did, sorta!!

Common Gray Tree Frog

Yes, he jumped out of the bucket and and landed on my face.  He climbed up on my nose and he decided it was a good place to survey the neighborhood. After his photo session I took him outside to the flower pots--

He was very happy there and quickly disappeared in the thick foliage.

No sewing but I'm preparing for a retreat with Dee from Nebraska on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  I am really looking forward to it!

Over the weekend was our 40th wedding anniversary.  As Ken describes it "40 years of pure wedded bliss!"  And then he laughs!  How did we spend our anniversary?  Peeling apples!  We peeled 80 cups of apples and froze them, enough for 12 pies and I made two apple cobblers.  And there are still apples left over.  I'm committed to baking apple pie once a month for the next year.  

~Lori1R in Nebraska~