New opportunity

I was given an opportunity to give this quilt to the baby of someone I admire. My brother will be meeting him again soon and said he would make sure he gave this to him for his son for me. This person can afford anything he might want, but this is my way of showing my appreciation for the person that he is. I can't say who the person is right now. I will let you know after it has happened just in case someone's schedule gets change or a glitch happens.

I spent last night weed wacking and mowing for 2 hours. I was drenched. The yard looks a whole lot better since I had not done a thing to it - I was too busy watching the Tour.

Another new piece and adding the stash

Such a busy weekend and oh was it hot! My nephew's band did a great job playing at the festival, but halfway thru their set, my nephew had to sit down and get cooled off. He said he was about to faint. I was close to 100 degrees. After they threw the cold towels I had brought for the band for about 5 -6 minutes, he felt better and they finished their set. If you were in the shade with the breeze that was blowing it was tolerable, but if you were in the sun - forget about it!

I worked on this piece that I am making out of my volunteer shirts from the art museum. I am in the process of quilting it.


I went shopping Saturday morning at a quilt shop an hour away in the county where I use to live. Found some good stuff on the 50% off already marked down racks. I mean I paid $2.00 and $2.50 for fabric that is usually $9.00 a yard. Then the rest of the fabric was 25 percent off. It was hard to stop. Think I did buy more yardage of each piece than I needed, but since I don't know what I am going to make right now I would rather have too much than not enought.



Then of course it was the last stages of the TDF. Congratulations to all the winners.

The second top is done!

So here is the second top finished. It is pretty close to the same size as the yellow one - about 34" x 50".

Here they are side by side. I can't wait to quilt them!


While I was finishing the quilt top I was watching Stage 17 of the TDF. During one of the climbs a group of about a dozen sheep came up the side of the mountain and decided to join the tour! Thank goodness this happened on a climb when the riders were going only about 15 mph and not on a decent where they can reach speeds anywhere from 50 to 70 mph. The commentators said that the sheep roam free and they will move up the mountains when the clouds roll in. It was very cloudy, foggy, misty, and cold on the climbs yesterday. I have seen dogs run into the riders paths several times over the years, but this is the first time I have seen sheep. A few of them ran beside the riders for awhile. I just glad no one got hurt.



I have a busy Saturday planned. The Material Girl Fabric Outlet in New Philadelphia, Ohio is having a huge sale. I missed their 4th of July sale, but the discounts at the sale this weekend are even better so things worked out. The shop is moving to a larger building and the owner can't stop buying fabric so the store they are in is packed to the gills! I have no idea what I may buy, but I need some fabric for making more baby quilts. In the afternoon my nephew's band is playing at a big festival so I will go see them play and probably roadie after the show.

Sunday is watching the final stage of the TDF as the riders head to Paris and sewing. Have a great weekend!

More progess made

I worked on this piece again last evening and it is progressing along nicely. I added the pieces to the right of the jeans and sewed together the border pieces for the top and the left side. It is coming together quickly. I next need to think about what I am going to do for the backing and quilting.

I did get some weeding done - a.k.a. pulling out crabgrass - before it started to rain. It only rained about 10 minutes. It was a hard rain so now it is really humid out again. The plants needed a drink so I am happy that we did get some rain. I have the A/C on so all is right in my little world.

Multi tasking

After work was busy! Yesterday's stage in the TDF was a long one so I starting watching it while I sewed. I really don't like to do this because I miss some of the scenery and yesterday the scenery in the Pyrenees was outstanding! I needed to replace the zipper in these pants for a person I work with. She really didn't give me much of a choice as to whether I wanted to do them or not, but I thought it was in my best interest to fix them. She needs them for this weekend, so now that job is done and off the to do list.


I also worked on the second clothing quilt. I got fabric added at the left side of the pants. I always add more fabric than I think I will need. It is easier to trim it off than to add. It also gives me some flexiablity when I trim before adding the borders as to the size the piece will be. I don't think both quilts will end up exactly the same size - they don't have to be the same - so that is not a detail I am going to sweat over.



Here are the riders heading over the summit at the Col du Tormualet which is a 6900+ foot climb in the Pyrenees.


This is a switchback on the decent down the Col du Torumalet on the way to the climb at Col D'Aubisque.



The majority of the mountain roads do not have guardrails. I would not want to be on these roads at night!

Today is a rest day for the riders so that means I can get some stuff done around the house. Laundry, a little cooking, and starting another batch of yogurt are on the to do list for this evening.

New quilts from old clothes

I posted a picture on June 29 of a pair of jeans I was taking apart to make a couple of small quilts out of. This weekend I finished the top for one of the quilts and have the second quilt pinned up on the design wall. I spent a lot of time thinking before I started to free cut and stitch and I mean a lot of time. I just wanted them to turn out really cool and didn't want to mess this up. Besides jeans, I had old t-shirts and a sweatshirt I could use for these.


Here is the second one I need to make. It is actually a little farther along than this. Last evening when I was cleaning up the mess from the first quilt, I hung up pieces for the borders when I came across them. I am so please how these quilts are turning out.

Hitting the books

Next year Paula Nadelstern quilt's will be exhibited at the Akron Art Museum where I volunteer. I thought I would read her books and study up on her techniques so that maybe I could become a docent for the exhibit. I will be anxious to see her work in person. I don't know that I would have the patience to construct a puzzle quilt or a kaleidoscope quilt - I may have to play around and at least make a small piece.

Glad to see Mark Cavendish won Stage 10 of the TDF, although Thor is my favorite sprinter. The scenery again was beautiful and makes me wish I could move to such a beautiful place. The lavendar was in bloom and the sunflowers were standing proud as the riders raced by.

This weekend I wanted to just stay at the house and not go anywhere, but my brother is coming home from California for a week so I need to go over to his house and turn on the A/C, gather up his recycling and mail at the house, and pick up his mail at the post office. So in order to avoid leaving the house this weekend, I will go to the grocery and drug store after work tonight and after I take care of the stuff for my brother. I don't like driving around town after work, because the people drive like crazy people. Since the city laid off police, it has been a free for all on the roads. The police that are still working are too busy with robberies, assaults, murders, and drugs to pick up someone doing 45 in a 25. And stop signs - in these people's eyes they are just a suggestion! Oh well, I will get thru it. Sauturday and Sunday will be doing some cleaning, sewing, a little weeding, and of course watching the TDF. Have a great weekend!

Tops are done

I sewed together the rows last evening while watching the TDF and both tops are done. I will dye some fabric for the backs this weekend. I plan on piecing the baby's names on the back.


Here is a bridge the cyclists went over in yesterday's stage. It was at the dam end of a man made lake. Just beautiful!

Some progress

Last evening I got the blocks sewn into rows. Tonight I will sew the rows together.


Stage 9. Riders decending.

Blocks are done

After mowing grass after work, I sat down and finished the blocks for these two quilts. I really like the way they are turning out. They are for twin girls to be born early November. The shower is Sept. 12 so I have plenty of time to get them done. I will work on sewing the blocks together this week during the commercials while I watch the TDF (Tour de France).

Last week I found out an x-cousin by marriage daughter is getting married in October. (I still see my x-cousin and do alterations for her. She is a lovely person.) I would like to make her a quilt. The list of quilts to do gets longer by the minute. It just seems like there is alway another quilt to be made! I think I need to update my list - I just know I am going to forget one and then be in a panic to get one made.

Keeping busy

Here is some of the latest additions to my stash. I got these Essex Cotton/linen blends from Canton Village.


Here are two baby quilts that are in progress. I cut a squares and split them. Since I left the fabric wrong sides together, when I cut the squares I got mirror images so the pinwheels spiral different ways on each quilt. There will be a total of 12 blocks in each quilt. The blocks will finish at 13 inches.

I have been busy watching the TDF and it has been a very interesting race this year. Armstrong has run into some very bad luck this year with crashes (not his fault) and flat tires. It would take a miracle for him to get on the podium this year. I think the focus on the Radio Shack team now will be to get Levi on the podium and I know Lance will work hard for that to happen.

Great weekend

I finished the baby quilt for a friend of my son. I like the way it turned out. Here is the front and the back.




Ok, these pictures are not in the right order. I am using a different computer and the pictures are so small to look at when I am trying to find the one I want to post I didn't get them picked in the right order - Oh well! Monday I rode on the float - aka bed of a tow truck - for a local parade. The man that had the truck is the father of the bass player in my nephew's band. The truck pulled a trailer loaded with the kid's equipment. We arrived at the parking lot about 7:30 am. We had to finish decorating the truck and trailer and won 3rd place in commercial division! That was a suprise! We sat in the parking lot until about 11:10 and then it was finally our turn.
Here is a picture of the crowd as we turned the corner to head up the two mile parade route.


Here are the kids doing sound check on the trailer. My brother spent 6 - 7 hours setting up the equipment and bolting it all down. Along the parade route I was looking at the people and they were so suprised that the musicians were young kids. I guess last year they were the loudest group in the parade and you could hear them a long way from where they were. I rode on the bed of the truck along with other band parents and the kids friends.

Here is a shot of the groups lined up in the parking lot waiting their turn to get in the parade line. It was so hot and I felt bad for the teenagers that were going to be dancing the two miles and the karate group that were walking and performing. Then along the route seeing the little kids with red faces, tired, and so hot - gosh I felt so bad for them. I probably will not do this again next year if it is this hot, because my neck and chest are broke out with an itchy, red, heat rash.

The tow truck took us back to my brother's house and the kids were still playing. I helped unload some of the equipment and get food ready for the cookout for all the kids that rode the float, the band, and their families.
I finally made it home to do one more alteration on the wedding dress. I ended up having to take the bodice off the skirt for part of the dress so I could take in the seam that runs from the waist to the neck. The bodice now cups the top of the breast instead of gapping. The bride was happy with the fit. After the dress was done I finally got to watch Stage 2 of the Tour de France. What a crazy stage. If this race isn't hard enought to begin with I think the organizers get these guys on roads that are just not suitable for modern day racing. Usually in the TDF they don't ride over many cobbles, but today's race contains around 18 kilometers of cobbles and they are toward the end of the Stage 3 of which is around 135 miles. Can you even imagine riding a bide for 100 mile then have to get jarred to the bone with riding over the cobbles?

Beautiful fabric

Check out this fabric. I saw on Kathy York's blog that her new line was in the stores and I just had to have some of the stripes. She had listed a couple of places where you could buy her line so I immediately jumped on that. I could not believe how fast I got the fabric from Honey Bees! I ordered it on Tuesday and received it on Thrusday - thats from Texas to Ohio. The fabric is just wonderful and I can't wait to use it!

Here is the only daylilly plant that the deer have not snacked on. It is blooming and so pretty. Covering all the plants up every night has helped. As long as the wind doesn't blow hard, the covers stay on the plants and the deer leave them alone. This is a solution, but I don't dare miss a night of covering the plants.


The TDF (Tour de France) starts in 24 hours. Last night at the Douwntown at Dusk one of my customers had a Slipstream hat on (Slipstream is one of the teams in the TDF) so of course I had to strike up a conversation! It is hard to find someone as interested as I am so I had to jump at the chance.

To everyone - have a safe and happy 4th of July!

It has arrived!

I won this copy of City Quilts on Pat Sloan's blog http://www.patsloan.typepad.com in April and it has finally arrived. What a cool book! Thank you again Pat and Cherri House Quilts!

I won't be posting as often for the next few weeks. I am going to be away from the computer and working out in the field. Please bear with me.