Progress on the drum quilt

I made four more blocks last evening even though I was very tired. After I finished the fourth block I went to bed. Here are the blocks - only three more to go!

On my way home from work the blimp was floating around. I took a quick picture thru the car window. My office is beside a McDonalds so thus the top of the arch on their sign.

What a weekend!

I managed to get the house is order before Peg showed up. We decided to tackle a Jane Sassaman quilt. I had some pictures from the recent giveaway for her new book and we just went from there. Here is the top taht we made out of a cone flower print.

All the patches had to be fussy cut and ended up on the bias. The pink and green inner border added some stability to the piece. I don't know how many yards of fabric we went thru, but it was a lot! We could only get three patches out of the width of the fabric. The flowers on the outside edge could not be used. We did end up using the leftover edge pieces for piecing together the backing. The top ended up 52" X 52". I am going to quilt this for Peg.

Sunday morning we finished the Jane Sassaman quilt and then Peg worked on some tote bags while I sewed more of my drum blocks. I need 7 more blocks.

We left the house about 6 p.m. to go and see my nephew's band play. This worked out great as we were both ready for a break and the venue was right beside the interstate. Peg stayed for the first set and then headed home. I went back to the stage and helped sell t-shirts and pack up after they were done. The crowd was wonderful and everyone seem to have a good time.

I was told that I was not allowed to miss anymore gigs because at Saturday's gig my sister-in-law was so busy selling t-shirts and fridge magnets that she could not keep up. She keep saying "Where's Patty? We need Patty!" At Saturday's gig the venue supplied and air conditioned trailer for dressing rooms, food, and drinks. Michael got to meet Nic Fortuna from the 60's band The Buckinghams. They had a long conversation about the 60's, recording, and touring. We have another fan turned volunteer for the band, Ed. My brother just can't take care of Michael's equipment and run the video camera so Ed is now going to the the camera. He is also another pair of hands to tear down and pack up after a show. The Michael Weber Show machine is rolling along! I didn't get to bed until 10 p.m. last night - which doesn't seem that late for some, but I get up at 5:30 a.m. and I am a bit tired today.

I am looking for a source for some good prices on African Dutch Wax fabrics. I am now committed to making a series of these quilts.

I can't reveal all the details yet about what is going on, but it is special! I just don't have the funds to go and buy pieces of lots of different prints - I like to use lots and lots of different prints. I am proposing that if anyone wants to contribute a 1/4 yard or more of one or more pieces of African Dutch Wax I will make sure that they get their name on a very special quilt made with this fabric and send them a picture of the quilt. I totally am out of blue fabric and my stash of light colors are next to none. If anyone knows a source where I could get remnants or at least really good prices on Dutch wax fabric please, please let me know. Thank you!

The weekend's activities

Last night I worked at the museum and despite the pouring rain (YEAH!!!) we had a pretty good crowd. The band, Speedbumps, was very good. Much of the crowd was there to go to the lecture being given by Al Bright, an artist from Youngstown. He is the gentleman in the suit and tie. After I served Mr. Bright a beer, I got to talk to him awhile - very nice man! I wish I could have gone to the lecture, but I had to man my station and sell beer. The lecture was suppose to be a half hour, but after 55 minutes the doors to the auditorium were still closed so there must have been a lot of questions!

I did get two more blocks done for the drum quilt.

This is going to be an action packed weekend! My friend Peg is coming to quilt. This will be the first time she will see the bedroom that I fixed up last year for her. So tonight is all about making the bed for her, food prep, and straightening up a bid in the studio. Here is a picture of the room before I installed the bed.

Early Saturday morning I have a haircut appointment and Peg will be coming around noontime. We plan on going to the Akron Art Museum so Peg can see the El Anatsui exhibit. Sunday is all about sewing and then we will head over to Cuyhoga Falls about 6 p.m. for the Italian festival so she can see my nephew's band play. The venue is right next to the interstate so it will be easy for Peg to jump on the interstate Sunday night to head home.

Found some more music fabric

I had to go the dentist yesterday for a final check on my mouth guard and I made time to stop at the quilt shop. I needed to find more music themed fabric and I found two pieces that I didn't have - YEAH!

I took another load of stuff to my neighbor's house for the garage sale and managed to put together two more blocks for the drum quilt.

I have two more blocks ready to be sewn together. For these blocks I laid two pieces of fabric on top of each other with boths fronts facing up. I then line up on edge so both pieces are even then free hand cut. It is just a matter of shuffling the pieces, of course keeping them in order, then sewing each block together. After trimming the blocks with be 15" square.

Tonight I am back working at the art museum Downtown at Dusk event. Oh, it's going to be a hot one and I am not looking forward to it. I was in and out of the heat all yesterday afternoon and I am still tired. Yes, I am a wimp when it comes to the heat.

Fabric purchase

I am trying not to buy fabric. I think I have enough for now, but there is always that project that comes along and you need a couple more pieces to go with what you already have. Well, here are my latest pieces - 2 yards of each

I took two car loads of stuff to my neighbor's house last evening for the big garage sale she is having Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. She just lives around the corner, but the car was the easier way to move a lot of stuff quickly. I have to get the rest of the stuff marked and taken to her tonight since I work at the art museum Thursday night.

Next project

Here are a few untrimmed blocks for my next quilt project. I improv cut the pieces and then will square them up. I am still on the lookout for more fabrics with drums and for the next quilt I am still looking for more fabrics with pianos. I will be headed to Dover tomorrow so I will stop at the quilt shop and see if they have anything on hand that I don't already have. I only need a fat quarter of two differnt block to get two completed blocks.

Crazy busy weekend

Friday after work I drove to my brother's house and the four of us, my brother, sister-in-law, Michael, and I - drove to Kent for the band's performance at the Kent Stage. Dispite lighting issues and a few technical issues, the band plowed thru their performance. It wasn't their best, but they were still good. The crowd gave them a nice hand at the end and all was good.

I spent Saturday and Sunday morning working on the the Olivia quilts. I have the red one pin basted. I ended up piecing the backs of each quilt using all the scraps. I had 19 yards of Olivia fabric and used 8 5/8 yards for both of these quilts.

The back

The black one is ready for pin basting, but I just had to get started on another one of the five quilts I need to have done this year so I just put the cutting mat on top of the black one. My design wall was empty and I just wanted to get my idea for this next quilt translated into fabric so I could see on the wall instead of just in my head.

I did clean up the studio before Jacki came over on Sunday. She needed to use my table to lay out her quilt for the borders. We measured, pinned and sewed the first border on the quilt. She said I should rent my table out by the hour.

The TDF is over - I am having withdraw. Braddley Wiggins won the yellow jersey. He is the first British rider in histor to win the TDF.

Thomas Vochler won the King of the Mountains polka dot jersey.

Peter Saga won the sprint point green jersey.

Tejay Van Garderen from the U.S. won the best young rider white jersey

Chris Anker Sorenson won the most aggresive rider honors

Radioshack-Nissan won the team competition.

The jersey winners came back up to the podium again together and were presented with more trophies. They sure give a lot of trophies to the winners. I think the Bradley was presented with at least three trophies plus three bouquets of flowers. I have no idea who sponsored this glass trophy,

There was a fawn having a late lunch in the back yard yesterday.

So now I have to get my head around a very busy week - getting stuff to the neighbor's house for the garage sale, getting Peg's room ready for her visit on Saturday/Sunday, dentist again and MQG meeting on Wednesday, volunteering at the art Museum on Thrusday, oil change on Tuesday, hair appointment on Saturday, Michael's band playing on Sunday - ugh!! I don't like weeks this - too much!

Working on the black Olivia quilt top

I made some good progress on the borders for the black Olivia quilt. As I was sewing together the pieces for these borders, I had a calm feeling that came over me - I really like to sew and create quilts. It was very odd in a way since I have been sewing most of my life, but it just hit me as I quietly added each piece.

We finally got some rain yesterday - YEAH! It rained for about an hour and a quarter. It is very overcast this morning, but the radar doesn't show any rain. Like everywhere else, the rain is very hit or miss and the rain pops up and disappears just as quick.

My nephew's band is playing tonight so I will be going to that wearing my new t-shirt. I think he is playing another venue this weekend also, but I don't know if it is Saturday or Sunday. A woman from my MQG is suppose to come over Sunday to use my design wall so I hope Michael is playing Saturday.

I think I will be having a busy weekend going to see the band play, gathering up stuff for a garage sale my neighbor is having the 27, 28, and 29th, working on the black Olivia quilt top, watching the last two Stages of the TDF, and with company coming on Sunday. Gee wiz it is going to be hard to find time to sleep! At least my teeth quit hurting so I feel much beet and will be able to a lot of stuff done. Have a great weekend!

Red Oliviia top done

I went to the dentist yesterday. They took an x-ray of my back tooth and ground down my night guard. Still not sure what was causing all the pain, but I felt better last night so I got to work on finishing the red Olivia quilt top while I watched/listened to yesterday's stage of the TDF.

I have the first pieces cut for the border of the black Olivia quilt. I laid a black 6" wide strip on top of a light strip then free hand double cut them. I sorted the pieces into rows so they will be ready for me to sew together tonight after work while watching/listening to today's stage of the TDF.

New t-shirt

I was so tired last evening from my teeth still hurting from the mouth guard that I didn't accomplish much. I watched the rest of a movie I started watching on my laptop at lunchtime and watched Master Chief that I taped the night before.

I decided to at least stencil my new t-shirt that Michael gave me. The band is playing Friday night at the Kent Stage in Kent, Ohio so I wanted to have my new shirt ready. The front which was already done

So I stenciled the back:

So now I am ready to roadie on Friday night! I help carry equipment and watch the equipment when we tear down.

I go to the dentist today and I am sure he will adjust my mouth guard so I don't have the pain again.

Red Olivia quilt and bead pins

I worked on the red Olivia quilt last evening. I got the center sewn together plus two of the borders - the bottom name border and the left one.

After staring at it a bit, I decided that I needed to put a striped border on the bottom too. I moved the top border down just to see and I like it! So I will cut more fabric and get that pieced. I improv pieced the striped border to contrast with the ridgid straight pieced center. I think the striped improv border livens the quilt up.

I sent Karen in CT at The Selvage Blog some silk scraps for a quilt she was making and she sent me some of her bead pins! They are beautiful! I have a design wall that I hang small pieces I have collected from other quilters and there are a few pieces of my own. So instead of using just straight pins to hang them I now have some beautiful bead pins to hang them with.

Thank you Karen!

20th qult done for 2012

Here is the step zig zag done. I got the label sewn on it along with labels on two other quilts that will be given away shortly.

I spent time on Saturday afternoon doing some alterations before leaving for Cleveland to here my nephew's band play.

The band did a great job. It was just sad that the bar owner passed the tip jar during Michael's performance, but gave all the tips to the headliner! The place was packed when Michael played, but by the time the headliner played there was only about twenty people left. The band played on Sunday, but I didn't go. I was just so tired from being woken up Friday night/Saturday morning at 2 am with my jaw hurting from that new mouth guard. I took some Excedrin, but I could not go back to sleep. I ended up taking some of the pain killer I have left from surgery last fall and it helped, but even today my jaw is still sore even though I quit wearing the guard. I go back to the dentist Wednesday and something will need adjusted.

Do you have any big fat plastic straws that you can't find a brush to clean them? I did, but I found a brush on ebay from serenitystraws. The brush worked great and now my straws are nice and clean! This picture shows my straw before I cleaned it.

I now have five quilts I need to get done this year. Sunday I worked on two of them. I need to have these done for October and that should not be a problem as much as I got done yesterday.

My boy, Peter Sagan, is still leading the green points jersey race. He help to consolidate his lead by making it over two mountains on yesteday's stage in the breakway leadout group of eleven riders and getting 20 points at the intermediate sprint. He lost the stage by less than a half a wheel.

Getting close!

While I watched/listen to yesterday's stage of the TDF, I finished quilting the step zig zag quilt and machine sewed on the binding! All that is left is to hand stitch the binding and add a label.

I received my prize yesterday from Glen of quiltswissy.blogspot.com for winning the how many quilt tops can you get done in June challange. Thank you Glen. I will have a lot of fun going thru these books and the magazine!

So what is next? I need to make two quilts out of this Olivia fabric. I don't know what design I am going to do yet.

Tomorrow I will be going to Cleveland with my brother, sister-in-law and Michael. The Michael Weber show is playing at Wilberts.

The rest of the weekend is all about watching the tour and the Olivia quilts. It did rain a bit last evening so maybe I will get out early Sunday morning and pull some weeds.

Have a great weekend!