MQG piece progress

I got the strips sewn together last night between baking cookies and watching the men's basketball game. Now I just need to get it quilted and bound. I will probably quilt this with lines very close together. I forgot to measure the current size, but for me it is small!

And here are the cookies for the last night of Downtown at Dusk at the museum. They are Martha Stewart's French Butter Cookies. I use raw sugar to roll the logs and it gives the edges a nice crispy bite.

MQG piece progress

I got the small 7" x 7 1/2" print cut and added some white and the gold print I showed yesterday. I have the pieces laid out and now it is time to play with the arrangement.

Last evening was all about gathering up and putting out the recycling, exercising, and throwing a batch of cookie dough together. I always bring cookies to the last Downtown at Dusk at the museum so I made these easy French butter cookies (Martha Stewart) that are a refrigerator slice and bake. They are so good and so easy to make. I made a double batch - you can't have too many of these!

MQG Challenge

I did not get any sewing done last evening - I got busy doing a few chores and watching the men's basketball team win against Argentina. I don't normally watch the NBA - too many overpaid cry babies, but the Olympics seems a more honest reflection of talent. I did get a couple of pieces of fabric pulled for the challenge piece I need to do for this month's MQG meeting. There is not a winner for this challange - this is just an exercise to see what everyone will do with this fabric.

There is a size limit of approx 16" x 16" which is a good thing. I say that because the last time I was in a group challenge that there were no size limits I ended up making this quilt in 2004.

The challenge was to make something that was inspired by a picture in a quilt magazine and use the challenge fabric that you pulled from a brown bag of scraps. The quilt inspiration is obvious - Sandi Cummings - but this was my first venture into improv piecing. The fabric I pulled was a tone on tone cream and a pasley. I ended up dyeing the challenge fabrics - they were just ugly! But anyway, I was the only one who was crazy enough to turn two scraps of fabric into a bed sized quilt! I used silk in the center of the squares. Here are some close up shots.

Here I used the challenge fabrics around this peach silk

Here is the label I put on the back which has a piece of all the different cotton fabrics I used. On the right side of the label is the challenge fabrics before I dyed them and the dyed fabric on either side. I did end up winning this challenge and the prize was two large fabric containers.

Progress on the drum and piano quilts

Friday evening I decided I needed to trim and mow the grass before all the rain hit us - at least according to the weather people - Saturday and Sunday. We got some rain early Sunday morning, but that was it. Not enough to soften the ground for pulling weeds or as much as they predicted. I did take the weed wacker to some of the weeds in the flower beds when I was trimming, but since I didn't kill them I have a feeling this will only make them stronger!

I finished sewing together the drum quilt top.

I then began to work on the piano quilt before I added the borders to the drum quilt. I wanted to make sure I have at least enough fabric for the blocks for the piano quilt. I figure I could always not put a border on either quilt if I ran out of fabric. Here is the piano quilt top all done.

I then put the drum quilt back up on the design wall and the borders are just pinned to the wall. I was getting tired Sunday and I wanted to get the studio straightened up and the table cleaned off before I drugged the drum top around to do the borders.

I had the Olympics on while I sewed all weekend. Tennis was on and I watched the men's double. Bob and Mike, the Bryan twin brothers, won. They are friends of my brother and when Bob (the one on the left) had a baby this year, my brother wanted to give one of my quiltsto him for the baby. Remember this zig zag quilt?

Busy evening

I did my volunteer bit at the museum last evening. We were fairly busy since there was a big crowd for the Numbers Band. Here is a shot of the crowd from the parking deck across the street from the museum.

After intermission there were no customers at the beer concession stand and since we had plenty of help I took off to go see my nephew, Michael, play with the Jammin' Paul Band for open jam night at the Main Street Saloon. Michael's drummer friend from the Retro band was going to play along with Michael and others in the second set, but I left. It was already 9:30 and I needed to go home and go to bed.

This weekend it is all about being a hermit! I don't plan on leaving the house any farther than the front yard. I want to finish the drum quilt top and get the piano quilt top made. I plan on doing some serious weeding in the early mornings since the mornings are cooler now and we are suppose to get some rain this weekend which will help soften up the ground. My front yard and flower beds are a disaster!

Have a great weekend!

Turning blocks into rows

I had a busy evening so not much sewing happened. I did get the blocks sewn togther for row 2 and 3.

Tonight I work at the art museum - second to last Downtown at Dusk event for the season - so probably no sewing will happen tonight.

More progress on the drum quilt

I got the last three blocks made yesterday evening and managed to get the three bottom rows sewn together! I will be adding a border, but not until I make the blocks for the piano quilt. I can't believe how I have used up so much of my fabric with musical notes on them. I want to at least get the blocks made for the piano quilt and then I will use what I have left for borders. Guess what I will be buying at the next sale in October at Miller's Dry Goods?

The McDonald's next door - not a problem for me. I have been there maybe three times in the last 8 years. I think we bought ice cream sundaes once or twice and one smoothie just this summer. I wouldn't walk over there by myself - too many unsavory characters in the area.