Ready to start quilting

Between last night and this morning I got the other four doggies quilts pin basted.

Here are the backs.

Here are all eight hanging on the design wall

Now I can start quilting these. Only 4 to 5 days to get these done!

I did get the three drum cases stitched this weekend. I used some heavy duty thread to secure the zipper end and then machine stitched the seam perpendicular to the zipper. My brother was happy we were able to fix these.

Tomorrow I will be away from the computer - more safety training - so I will check back in on Monday. Have a great weekend!

What a crazy day!

We received about 4" of heavy wet snow between 4 and 5 am on Tuesday so I had to shovel the driveway before I could head to my brother's house. This is the most snow we have received at once all winter.

I got to my brother's house and then we headed to Cleveland to go look at kitchen cabinets for the kitchen he is remodeling and for cabinets for my living room. We made it to Cleveland without any issues. Here is some shots of the place we were at.

This place also has furniture and mattresses.

The lady that helped up was wonderful and we left with drawings, prices, and all our questions answered. Mike and I stopped for a bite to eat and headed back. We were about 10 miles from Mike's house when his wife called. She had gotten stuck in a parking lot and couldn't get out. So we stayed on the interstate and headed to help. Then the traffic came to a slow down. We creped along for a mile or so and it was a semi carrying cars that was stopped in the middle lane. We got around that and got to my SIL. There were a couple of fellows that had shoveled, but the problem was the van was on an incline with the back lower than the front. After two tries my brother got the van turned around and we headed back to his house because that was where my car was.

I helped Mike shovel a bit more at his house because the snow plow had come by. Look how pretty the trees look with the snow.

We then all piled into the car and dropped my nephew off for band practice and then the three of us headed to Kent, Ohio to a granite countertop place. I don't know how long we were there. We made selections and headed back to Mike's house. I then headed home. It was about 5:15 when I got to the cul-de-sac where I live. It had not been plowed and after two tries I could not get up the street to my house. There is just enough of a grade that when it is covered with deep loose snow I just cannot get enough momentum to get over the crest. I backed out of the street, parked the car, walked to the house, got the shovel, and shoveled the street and entry to the cul-de-sac for a half hour. I tried again and got the car to the house. Let's just say I didn't get any sewing done yesterday and I sure can feel all the shoveling in my arms today! Here is the entrance all shoveled.

The city did finally come by and plow the street last night.

Another brother called and gave the measurements for the pedal board covers he needs me to make. He also added a cover for a steel guitar and a road case. Thank goodness I had enough (from left to right) car cover fabric, Duvetyne (this is flame resistant), and clear vinyl in my stash to make everything he needs by next Tuesday along with the doggie quilts.

Still working on the doggie quilts

I made some good progress on the doggie quilts this weekend. Of course I thought I would be farther along, but I am happy with the progress I made. I dug out my batting scraps and found nice sized pieces that I could sew together for four of the quilts so far. Here is what the pile looks like now and I think there is plenty here to do the other four.

On the left of this picture is all the binding I made up for these quilts and here are all the tops. The four in the upper right are pin basted and ready to quilt. I didn't have to put very many pins in them which was nice.

I turned the four pin basted quilts around so you could see the fabric I used for the backs.

Sunday afternoon there were two deer in the backyard. I have some wrinkled old apples in the fridge so I tossed them out for the deer. Yes, I probably shouldn't feed them, but the one on the left is pregnant so I though she might like to have an apple. If I don't feed the apples to the deer they would have to go in the garbage so what the heck.

Late Sunday afternoon I made a batch of Valentine cookies to take to the guys at work. Let me just say they are pretty tasty!

I am taking a day of vacation tomorrow. My brother and I are going to a place to look at kitchen cabinets for the house he is remodeling and I am going to look at cabinets for my living room. I should have at least a few extra hours to work on the doggie quilts after we get back.

Scraps, doggie quilts, knitting - Oh my!

The other day I received a package of scraps from my blogging quilt buddy Wanda from Exuberant Color. The were flannel scraps that I will use to mix in with the other flannel scraps I have. There were some lighter colors which I needed.

Wanda and I share of love of African Dutch Wax fabric and she threw in some scraps she had been saving for me. They are fabulous and some pieces a bit bigger than what I would call a scrap! So generous!

Wanda had sent me this piece of African fabric with these cute fish several years ago. I have been holding on to it for the right project.

I have this WIP that I will be using the scraps and the fish fabric. I have a box of my own scraps somewhere in the fabric storage room that will be added to this improv piece.
This piece is not on my UFO list. See Glen, I have a few projects buried in corners too!

Wanda, let me know when you get the postage check so I know you received it. Thanks so much!

I felt like knitting yesterday so at lunch and after work I got 5 1/4" knitted on the scarf that will be for my beautician. It is now 42" long so only 30" left to knit.

I got another doggie quilt top done too! Four done; four to go!

So this weekend will be all about working on the doggie quilts,

hand stitching the end of the zippers in the three drum cases

maybe a bit of knitting, and making Valentine cookies for the guys at work. I didn't make them for today since so many people are off site for training today.

Have a great weekend!

One more top done

First thing I had to do when I got home after work was to shovel. There was about 1 1/4 inches, but I have to keep the driveway clear as an inch here and inch there adds up. I had to shovel again this morning as we had gotten another 1 1/2".

I then sat down to work on the doggie quilts. I got one more top done and have a good start on the fourth one.

There must be something wrong with me because it is 16 degrees out and with the wind chill it is 1 and that doesn't seem all that bad! We have possible snow forecasted for the next few days. Glad the weekend is almost here. It is snowing now but it is very fine flakes.

Progess on the doggie quilts and snow

After I got my walking in last evening I started working on the doggie quilts. Now these are not show pieces or revolutionary in design. They will make the dog owner happy with the thoughtfulness of my brother to have these made for his precious dogs. Two tops are done - six more to go. I did round off the corners so it would be easier to put the binding on in one continuous piece.

I have the fabric pressed and ready for cutting for the next two quilts.

It snowed on and off all day yesterday and it was snowing when I had gone for my walk. It was nice and peaceful - no dogs out with there owners ready to have a piece of me. For all the snow that came down yesterday and last night we only got about a quarter of an inch accumulation.

Doggie quilts and RIP Maurice White

I dug out my fabric paint and stamps to see what I had. I had enough paint in the right colors to stamp the dog's names on the fabric for the doggie quilts, but the paint was old and I had to work to get it into a condition where I could use it. What I had left I had to trash.

Here is what the design wall looks like so far. I only have four out of the eight dog's names, so the other four will not have a name on them. I don't think the dogs will mind.

I saw yesterday that Maurice White died. Among all of the different roles he played in the music industry he was front and center in Earth, Wind, and Fire one of my favorite groups. I love the song Boogie Wonderland! Whenever I am walking and starting to get tired I flip the Ipod to that song and I feel like a new person. RIP Maurice White.