An Unexpected Surprise and a Had To Stop and Tell Moment

Yes, I am still leaving (tomorrow)...car is almost packed, thanks to DH and everything is ready to go.

At the last minute, I decided to give my DS & DDIL some of Mother's Christmas ribbon and other things. I was going through it, taking out the breakable ornaments, and ran across a couple of items, one of which I thought was lost forever!

These are staying here,,,,,well, maybe one will go for a "show and tell"....

She loved wind-up toys.. I laid this one down for a better perspective...it still works..wind it up, turn the  switch (at the top, unseen) and the needle still goes up and down...Best ever!

The other thing is a puzzle my Grandfather showed me when I was real young, pre-teen...Yes, you can find the solution on the internet now, but it was back in the 40s when I saw this the first time....and what was so great was that he had crafted the pieces out of metal himself (he and my grandmother worked with metal and rivets at a local Naval Base during War II.)

Make a block out of these 4 pieces (sorry, they are still as they came out of the plastic bag, I need to clean them a little)

That was easy.

NOW,,,,,,

adding another piece, make a square out of these 5 pieces..

.

How cool is that!

Notice, I did not show you the solution. 

See you in a few weeks.....

No Picture Post - Traveling Again..

Just touching base with everyone....I am driving North to KY later this week to care for my GC.  Their sister will arrive soon and my son and wife need a little help during her first week there.  I am not sure when I will return, but know that it will be somewhere early mid month of May.  I'll be out of pocket, but hope to have some pictures when I get back.  I'm taking two sewing machines, my Featherweight and my Janome, along with scraps,  Go Baby/dies, a few fat quarters, and other items...hopefully, I can introduce sewing to the older children, 4 boys and 1 girl, ... Need to figure out how to keep the youngest 2 busy...

Now if I can just remember my camera....

Motel Sew-In - Part II

I started with the basics...laid out some of the blocks too see the beginnings of the design....I had finger pressed the seams which didn't seem to do much good.  I decided to use my little iron on all. That would help in the trimming.

The motel had an iron and ironing board, but it was big and cumbersome.  I used my little travel iron and the ironing pad I made from a wooden cheese board a while back.

One nice thing....I had a big king size bed to lay the rows out as I decided which ones go where and what blocks I needed.  That I don't have in my room at home.  It was lovely!  I even considered leaving them there at the foot of the bed and sleeping crossways above them, but decided that was a bit much....

This was the night I watched/listened to 3 good movies on TV as I stitched until 2 in the morning....

Of course, these circles kinda caught my eye.  They do fight for attention in the picture also...a band of circles on the end of the bed....

But I finished 3 rows of 38 squares  each.  A good start on a top. 

Finally, I saved the HSTs I cut off the corners in hopes I can use them later on something else..I will have a Million of them when I finish! 

Mission Accomplished - My Motel Sew-In - Part I

I'm back from a 5 day visit with relatives.  A lot of catching up and reminiscing..and sewing....


This was my first Quilt-Away-From-Home experience in a motel.  I was by myself and since there was a lot of down time between visits, I decided to take whatever I needed to set up a motel sewing room.  I not only took my desk lamp, but also my floor lamp...That gave me plenty of good light to work by.

 

Yes, I moved my coffee after taking this picture.... I moved the table away from the wall so I could watch the TV which was right next to it inside a walled cabinet...

I had two goals on this trip -First, to start putting together my large Wash Day Stars top. I have all the 4 square blocks done and will be sewing together the companion blocks as I needed them.

I really used my lap desk to trim the blocks...it took me almost all of one evening to do that...and those were just the ones I took with me...this is just part of those...

 Those circles were on the bottom part of the bedspread in the room....more pictures later of those...


 My second goal was to go through my magazines (some 2 or 3 years old) for patterns I was still interested in and put them into a plastic sleeve for a notebook...the magazines will then go to anyone in  my quilting group who wants them...

 I did accomplish this and the magazines will be distributed at the next meeting....

I am signing off now so I can go visit with my hubby this evening....I'll show you the results on the next post....

Out of Pocket...On the Road...to the Water

Just to let you know that I will be on the road to see family for the next week....

Plan to take sewing & machine along...Would like to show you pictures of some advancement re: Wash Day Stars when I return....

Wash Day Stars - Phase II - Leader Ender Project

I am working on a leader/ender project: a queen size quilt top for myself called Wash Day Stars.

I have finished all  ~ 220  4-piece blocks necessary.  I used the multicolored fabric below...

Looking at the picture, I am reminded of the solid colors I picked way back when.  I had forgotten about the brownish gold fabric in the corner...I will have to search for that again...

 I have just gotten started cutting the necessary components for the companion blocks.

I haven't decided for certain, but may be shifting gears and putting these blocks on the fast track for the next month...I will be going on a couple of trips soon, one of which may have some down time where I can do some sewing.  These blocks are easily portable and can be a good project for on the move...so I am concentrating on cutting at least half of what I need...I might even take some of the 4 patches with me also.  It will be a nice diversion from hand quilting .

Maybe I'll have some resulting pictures to show ya'll in May....