Pin basting, yard work, and next quilt project

I have a third of the 16 patch quilt pin basted. Pin basting this one is going to take a while!

Meanwhile, I looked at my thread stash to decide what thread I am going to quilt this quilt with. I pulled out Signature thread in white and parchment, King Tut in white linen, a soft yellow Aurifil, and Connecting Thread in Lemon. My choice will be the soft yellow Aurifil on the front and Lemon on the back.

Meanwhile, I had an empty design wall and the need to make a quilt for the husband of a lady I work with. He is undergoing surgery next month and I think he will need a quilt for his recovery. I dug out my container with 9 patch flannel blocks that I had sewn last year and started putting them on the design wall.

As soon as I got home from work I decided to do some raking at the side yard. The sun was shining and it was warm so I just wanted to stay outside a bit. The wind was blowing from the front of the house to the back so it made sense to go with the wind while raking! There were about a million sticks from the neighbor's tree. Here is the before. The first picture where the blue line is, that is the neighbor's yard. The second picture is down the hill.

I raked and used the lopping shears to trim back my neighbor's growth that was starting to creep to my side. He won't care. This patch of his is beyond unkept. There are big vines growing into the trees that are choking them. It is a mess. I have live here 15 years and it has only been cleaned up once. So after an hour I ended up with a good sized pile of leaves and sticks. It looks better especially since I picked up all the trash bags and paper that had gotten caught in the tangled mess.

My daffodils are going to be blooming soon - at least the ones next to the house. The yellow flowers are peeking out.

I got this CD at the library last night. So far it is very entertaining. Bruce tells stories and sings. He does use the F word at times just so you know. It doesn't bother me; I have heard a lot worse. My brother who has toured with him, went to NY to see the show and said it was excellent. That is translating to the CD. I started listening to it this morning on my drive to work.

Layered up!

I finished piecing the back together. I taped it down, cut some batting, and laid out the quilt top. It is all ready for me to start pin basting!

The back is a combination of Jane Sassaman and African Dutch Wax Fabrics. I still need to figure out what color of thread I am going to quilt it with. I am leaning toward a yellow in my head, but I will have to try out several colors. The other deciding factor will be if I have enough in my thread stash to quilt this quilt. I am not going to buy any thread! Well, I am going to try not to buy any! LOL!!!

Productive weekend

I was up early Saturday and worked on the 16 patch quilt top. I left the house about 10 and didn't get back until after 6 p.m. I went to visit family and on the way home stopped at three different grocery stores. Sunday I got back at the quilt top and finished sewing it together.

I dug around the fabric storage room and found some pieces for the back. I want it to be as colorful as the front. I am using six pieces that were also used to make six of the 16 patch blocks. I have it almost sewn together.

Mother Nature is being mean right now. I rained all day Saturday then it turned to snow. We ended up with a couple inches. Here is a picture out the sewing room window. In the foreground are the daffodils. It is suppose to warm up to 44 today so I think they will be ok. I had gotten down to 20 degrees overnight. The next picture is what it look like at 8 p.m. I did see a salt truck this morning. The roads in Akron were covered, but as soon as I left the city limits the roads were clear.

Update on the iron situation - I decided to try cleaning my old iron before I declared it trash. I couldn't remember how to clean it so therefore I hadn't cleaned in in a couple of years. I got the directions out from the box with the new iron and guess what? After running it thru the cleaning mode three times, it steams again! I am such a goof! I plan on continuing to use it until it craps out and keep the new one for a spare.

I did make more banana cupcakes on Sunday. My boss's birthday is today so I made them for her.

Two to go

I did good and got three more rows of blocks sewn together. That leaves two rows left to stitch. They are the top two rows in this picture.

I have to spend some time digging around in the fabric storage room to see if I can find something for the back. I know I don't have enough of one fabric so I may have to piece some fabrics together. If I do that, it would continue the theme from the front although it takes more time. I just don't want to go buy more fabric, so I guess that is what I will do.

I did need to get a new iron. Mine was spitting and the steam was non-existent. Here is my old iron. Yes, I wrote the date on it when I started using it so I would know how long it lasted. Why? I don't know. I just do weird stuff like that. LOL!! I am surprised for an inexpensive iron how long it lasted - over three years as it gets a lot of hard use.

Here is my new iron. I have had good luck with the Black and Decker digital advantage irons. They last two to three years and they cost less than $40.00. I have had more expensive irons that have not lasted that long except for the first Rowenta I bought in the 80's. That iron lasted me almost 20 years! I tried buying another Rowenta and it was garbage so I took it back. I guess I should have stocked up/hoarded the model my first Rowenta was! LOL!!

I have a list for the weekend of things to do. I am going to try hard to put a dent in it. Have a great weekend!

More rows; more whacking

I got the blocks for two more rows sewn together. I am going to have to start sewing the rows to each other to make room for the block laying on the floor.

The daffodils are growing every day. I get excited to see the flower heads forming, but I have to calm down because it could be 3 to 4 weeks before they bloom. The ones nearer to the house are taller because of the micro climate there. The south facing brick absorbs the heat from sun so it is warmer there.

I was out whacking at the ornamental grass again after work. Here is the before and after.

Now that they are cut down I want to dig out the two big ones on the right. They are starting to push the rocks around and grow between the rocks. I am hoping the shovel/spade I bought last year will cut thru the tough, thick roots. I am planning on transplanting some of the chunks. My neighbor was out and I offered her some. I have dug out ornamental grass before and it is a lot of work, but I will work at it a little at a time. I laid down a yardstick so you can see that both plants are around a yard wide.

Progress on two fronts

I managed to get three rows of blocks sewn together! The rows still need sewn to each other. You can tell which ones because the rows are shorter.

I did work in the yard whacking away at the ornamental grass for another 40 - 45 minutes. Here is how it looked when I started

and what it looks like now

There are two mature clumps there on the right. I want to dig the front one out. I know it will be a battle. The root ball is dense and thick. I want to transplant clumps of it so I will work at removing smaller pieces. I don't think there is any way I could ever get it out in one piece!

Big plans

I had big plans when I got home from work yesterday. The weather is starting to warm up a little, so it is time to do something in the yard instead of sitting down in front of the tv after I get home from work. My big plan was to do 30 minutes of yardwork, make a big glass of fresh veggie/fruit juice, get something to eat, sew for 30 minutes, clean up the studio, and do a load of laundry. I ended up doing about 45 minutes of yardwork. I needed to cut my ornamental grass down

I was happy with the progress I made. There is a lot of stuff to pick up and haul to the back!

Went inside made my juice and got something to eat and then my son called me on his trip home from work. 59 miles later, he was home so we said goodbye. It was good to talk to him to catch up with all the goings on. He said it made his trip fly by. No sewing happened though. I had to throw clothes in the washer and went to bed. I woke up at 11:30, went downstairs and threw them into the dryer then went back to bed.

If the weather is good again tonight, I will work on cutting more of the ornamental grass down and try to get to the sewing machine.