More progress on the tea towel quilt

My navy blue thread only got shipped yesterday, so I continued quilting the triangle border. I now have more than half of one side quilted and here is what it looks like

Electricity - a good thing

Yesterday I got to work, a construction trailer, and we had no electricity. We didn't have the account number and waited on hold for an hour. We called back after we had the account number and the automated voice said someone would be here by noon. Well, at 2 p.m. the electric guy found us. It was 39 degrees when I first got to work and for several hours we sat in a pick up truck to keep warm. It finally warmed up during the day so we could sit outside and wait. The problem was a melted fuse on the pole. We are back in business today!

I did get a lot of walking in yesterday; it was better than just sitting around. All the walking hit me about 6 and I was so tired, too tired to even quilt. I did get some done on the tea towel quilt over the weekend. The navy thread I had is a light navy, so I think things will work out for the best as I placed an order with Superior Thread for some King Tut that was on sale including a dark navy. I should get my order today and I can get the navy part of the piano key border done tonight. The rust and black print is a vintage Marminko fabric I picked up at an estate sale dirt cheap.

Here is the back

I have been trying to walk everyday before work and this was the sunrise

There were a couple glazed doughnuts laying in the high school parking lot and I wondered how long it would be before the crows found them. It didn't take too long!

Tea towel quilt progress

I got bobbins wound and then it was quilting the tea towel quilt. I actually started in the middle - that is not always the case with the way I quilt - and made good progress quilting the tea towels. The linen the towels were printed on is a looser weave and it moves around quite a bit. I thought about following the design on the towels, but with the linen as squirrely as it is I decided to just do an overall pattern to nail it down. I have not quite half the towels quilted.

The weather is suppose to nice this weekend so I need to take advantage of that and get some work done outside. Have a great weekend!

Too hot to mow

Is it never going to get cooler in NE Ohio? It was almost 80 yesterday so it was too hot for me to mow after work. Right now it is 64 with 81% humidity. It's November! Time to get cold! So instead of mowing I did a bit of laundry and cooking then went downstairs to my nice cool studio and pin basted the rest of the tea towel quilt. I dug out quilting thread and I will be ready to start free motion machine quilting this tonight.

I watched the game until halfway thru the 5th. I was just too tired to stay up. I was disappointed in FOX and how they were so bias toward the Cubs throughout the series. They showed a piece in the pre game with the Cubs fans, but didn't do the same for the Tribe. At least we made it hard for the Cubs to win. We'll get them next year!

3-3, Tea towel quilt, and cleaning

I have been making myself do a bit of cleaning every day after work and the place is looking better. Not that my house was a big mess, but just the little things that you let go because you would rather sew. I have been working on downsizing the kitchen stuff which is now done, getting the dishes done, and cooking a little. I did a bit of mending and a load of laundry before I started on the tea towel quilt.

I got the back made for the tea towel quilt, taped it down, spread the batting, and laid out the top. I pressed, not ironed, the layers together with some steam to make sure it was nice and flat. This top has a lot of bias edges and is improvisationaly pieced. I also have a mix of fabrics - several different linens - the linen tea towels, Irish linen, and Belgium linen, quilting cotton, and drapery cotton. Irish linen came from a pair of pants I bought from my neighbor at a yard sale. The fabric was beautiful. I used the waistband for this top.

I got started on the pin basting while I watched the Indians and Cubs game 6. So now the series is 3-3 and tonight is the final game. I sure hope the Tribe can get their act together tonight and beat the Cubs. GO Cleveland!

AHIQ/Nov goal/UFO quilt, new shoes, pink fabric

It's time to add a post for the AHIQ post at Fret Not Yourself. I had made this tea towel quilt top a couple of years ago for a challenge on Victoria Findley's blog, but I never got it finished. I had been debating on adding another border so I had put it aside. I hung it up and decided it does not need another border. Right now it is 71" x 78". I had the one tea towel for years and it's twin was sent to me from a reader of my blog. Don't they look fabulous together!

I have a piece of the floral left that is 53" x 100". It is not enough to do the entire back, but I will add a bit so something and use it up. This floral is drapery fabric that was given to me with bags of leftovers from a friend's Aunt who passed away. The colors are not my taste, but somehow it fits in with the other wackiness of the fabrics I used in this top. This top is also on my UFO list with Colorways by Vicki Welsh UFO challenge and Elm Street Quilts' November goal http://www.elmstreetquilts.com/p/omg-one-monthly-goal.html, so I could kill three birds with one stone getting this one done.

I was walking on Saturday and had a pair of athletic shoes that were just a bit small. I have been trying to stretch them out and I thought they were ok, but by the time I got home I had a big blister on the inside of my big toe on my right foot. My other shoes were worn out and my Achilles tendon on my left was hurting because of the soles of the shoes were shot. I decided enough was enough and I bought a new pair of shoes. This was the only color they came in, but they were the only shoes they had that gave my toes room. I didn't walk much on Sunday because my toe hurt so bad. Yesterday I did a lot around the house after work and got most of my steps in, but I was wearing sandals to give my toes room. My toe still hurts a little, but it certainly feels a lot better.

I also dug out pink fabrics for a couple of zig zag quilts so my brother has a couple of choices for his friends expecting Dec. 25. Always another quilt that needs made!

15th finish for 2016

Yesterday I decided to just get this quilt done. All that was left to do was to sew on the pockets, a cuff, a label, and a pair of suspenders. Yes, you read the right - a pair of suspenders. This quilt is for my sister. She lives in Georgia. It is 72" x 84 1/2". She had found a quilt on pintreast which I cannot find the picture of and wanted me to use it for the design of this quilt. The backing is lavender which is one of her favorite colors.

There was a doe chilling in the backyard.

I went for a walk down to the school to get some steps in and look at the stuff I found - pencils, pens, a highlighter, a broken clip, empty tubes of lip balms, playing cards, a lanyard, a rock, and two pennies. I didn't pick up the four water bottles that still had water in them.

Then there were two stickers firmly attached to the sidewalk and pavement.

I also worked on the secret project this weekend. I finished all the machine quilting. I have the hand stitching done on two of the 6 t-shirts I used in this piece and the third shirt is 90% done. I spent some time on ebay looking for patches that would look good on this and I found three that would work. The person receiving this may have some patches or pins they could add to the piece.