6th finish 2014

I got the multi layered blue and tan quilt done on Saturday. I will add this quilt to my stash of baby quilts that I keep on hand.

It snowed all day Saturday, but it didn't amount to much. It all melted by late Sunday morning. We still have piles of snow though. I was outside talking to a fellow that is going to repair some brick on the front of the house around a window and noticed that there are plants showing signs of spring.

Daffodils

Chewed up daylilies

Why are the daylilies chewed up? Deer - here are the presents they left in the front yard. There were 7 or 8 piles of deer poop in the yard right next to the house. With all the snow cover we have had the deer are desperately looking for food.

Once the daylilies get bigger the deer leave them alone until they flower.

Sunday I worked on the project I can't take about. I have the first piece more than half quilted.

I am going to put a facing style binding on this piece. If anyone would like to see a tutorial on how I do that I could post a tutorial. I had posted about this before and I just looked at it. Gosh I left some stuff out! Let me know if you are interested in me posting how I do this.

Progress on the blue multi-layered quilt

I am excited to have made so much progress on getting this quilt machine quilted. I am now about 3/4th done! I will get this finished this weekend and them move on to the blue log cabin quilt next.

The temperature got up to 38 yesterday! We haven't been above freezing for quite a while so 38 was very nice. The sun is shining again today and the snow is slowly melting. Maybe spring is right around the corner.

Have a great weekend!

Machine quilting the blue multi-layer quilt

I got started quilting this quilt. I am using Mettler 40 weight 100% cotton thread in Natural in both the bobbin and top.

Not that exciting, but it is a warm up for the weekend which I have to start quilting my pieces I can't talk about.

Pin basting

I pin basted one of the pieces I can't talk about last evening. What I can talk about is a few hints on how I do my pin basting.

First, the type of tape I use to hold down the backing is Scotch for Hard to Stick Surfaces. In the past I used the blue tape, but if it was humid the tape just would hold the fabric in place. Now don't confuse this Scotch green tape with Frog tape. They are different. Frog tape has a chemical in the adhesive that prevent paint from bleeding under the tape. We are not painting so we don't need that. I buy the Scotch green tape at Sherwin Williams - the big box stores around here don't carry it. I wait until Sherwin Williams has a sale and pick up a roll or two usually around the holidays throughout the year.

Next tip is to also put a few pins threw the batting and backing at the edges. This helps keep the backing from flipping under when you least expect it. It is a pain to have to cut the backing out or having to take the quilting out to release the backing. I learned this the hard way!

Last night while I was working in the studio I turned on AMC which was still running their Rocky Fest. I watched the end of Rocky II, Rocky III, and the beginning of Rocky IV. I is amazing to see how Stallone's physique changed from Rocky to Rocky III. I bet in Rocky III his body fat went down to 2 percent. He was ripped!
His bruised up face reminded me of my encounter with that table I smacked my face into when I passed out before surgery a couple of years ago.

Rocky's face

My face

Call for covers

My brother, Mike, called me and asked it I would make a cover for the new sound board and one for a video board to keep the dust off of them for the Silver Swamp Studios. Mike and Michael have been working on remodeling the music studio/rehearsal space for the band. Of course I said yes and got to work last night. One cover is 37" x 41" and the other is 10" x 13".

They are having a ribbon cutting party for the new studio in a couple of weeks and I am invited! Mike wanted to take the covers to the embroider to have the band's name put on the covers so he needed them fast. No, I don't do embroidery. The lady that does it has embroidered coats, bags, and other items for the band. Should be a fun gathering.

I also worked a bit on the project I can't talk about while watching ROCKY. I forgot that I watched one more movie over the weekend Zulu Dreams. Guess who the British Army was fighting in this movie? If you guess the Zulu you are right. By the way, the Zulu won.

Pin basting and watching movies

I had a semi productive weekend. Saturday morning I went to get my haircut and then stopped at the grocery store on the way back home. The grocery wasn't as crazy busy and I thought it would be with the bit snow storm coming. By the time I got home it was about 11, so I got something to eat and ended up falling asleep in my studio chair for a few minutes. Then it was time to get to work.

I first finished sewing together that log cabin baby quilt and got it pin basted.

Then I pin basted the multi layer blocks quilt.

While I was sewing I turned on TCM and they were showing previous Oscar best picture movies. On Saturday while sewing, I watched On the Waterfront, which I liked, Gandhi, which was incredible, A Man for All Seasons, I didn't like, and In the Heat of the night, which was a good movie.

On Sunday they were not showing any movies I was interested in until the classic Bridge of the River Kiwi and Lawrence of Arabia. Yes, I had never seen Lawrence of Arabia. It was a long movie and I never did see the end because I turned on the pre-award show for the Oscars. I wanted to see the dresses. I know they will show Lawrence of Arabia again so I will see the last hour and 15 minutes sometime. So many movies with the British army! The fought the Indian's in Gandhi, the Japanese in Bridge over the river Kiwi, and the Turks in Lawrence of Arabia.

While watching movies I worked on a project that I can't really tell you much about. I and many other quilters will be submitting some pieces for consideration to be published. I don't know how many other quilters are involved in the project, but I am having a great time putting together my pieces. Publishing won't happen until 2015 so I will have to keep what is going on to myself. Even if my pieces don't get picked I am enjoying the challenge.

We were lucky and only got about 1 1/2 to 2" of snow early Sunday. Here is my driveway this morning. The snow was light and fluffy and it took less than 10 minutes to shovel.

Titian went south and slid by us. It sounds like the east coast, especially NJ, is going to get pounded today. Take care NJ!

Stash report - as of January I was down 5 1/2 yards. This month I need to add another -18 yards to that number. So for the year I am down a total of 23 1/2 yards.

Border is done and a little heart piece

The border is attached and trimmed so this weekend I can pin baste it. After it is done I will add to my stash of baby quilts that I keep on hand when I need one quickly.

I took 15 minutes to play to complete the February challenge over at Victoria's 15 Minutes to Play blog. Talk about waiting to the last minute! I had this cute heart stamp I stamped on a scrap then added randomly the red and turquoise scraps I found in a bin. I decided it was too plain so I got out the paints and splattered painted it. I now hangs on my design wall where I keep pieces that I have collected from other quilters.

Wee doggie it is cold this morning!

The weather people are calling for snow for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday which could amount from 6 to 18 inches.

I have a haircut appointment early Saturday morning so I hope the snow doesn't start until after that. Other than that I am staying home, working in the studio, and maybe do a bit more cleaning. I would like to get the cleaning done before the weather turns nice, because I want to be outside as much as possible after this winter!

Take care!