Wash Day Stars --------DONE!....

The top, that is.....

Measuring ~~~~ 94 x 108 inches......

And laid out on a double bed,.....edges folded up to show border.........

.....and a closeup.....

It should cover the bed nicely.  IF,,,,and this time I say, IF...... I HQ it, the pattern probably will be just straight lines, sewing a little out of the ditch on at least one side of each seam.....maybe hopping over squares to continue with star seams.

Binding will probably be in yellow also....that is a fer distance away yet......

One More Pillowcase - er, Quiltcase....

Picked up an orphan block from our quilting group and combined it with a pillowcase...

I zigzaged it onto the fabric before I sewed the cuff on. 

I'll be taking the pillowcases to the group next Monday.  

Now to start on my short (Ha!) list of quilt tops I want to make.........

Pillowcases - the Easy Way

Believe it or not, I have not sewn very many pillowcases.... it takes me awhile to home in on the easy stuff....

This site and this other site helped me a lot.  This is nothing new,,,The idea is more than 3 years old....but I am linking it because there may be some "newbies" out there....or "oldies" like I am.  As they say,

Everything is new to someone who is experiencing it for the first time.....

These will be used to hold the Wounded Warrior quilts our group have decided to make on an ongoing basis.  After 5 or 6 quilts are made, they will be sent to our contact in San Antonio to be distributed as they see fit...and then we start on 5 or 6 more...etc...We are a small group, but feel we can handle this okay....

Since I have other commitments right now (baby/niece/etc), I know I will not be getting to the WW quilt soon, so I opted to making a few pillowcases for the ones others are working on...

I don't know why it has taken me so long to learn such an easy way to make them!  

Borders.....and to Solve an Irritation......

I just finished the main body of my quilt....all 23 rows of 19 blocks each.

Only have the 3 borders to work on, one set of which I have put together and the other two borders comprising only 1 1/2" wide strips of fabric I have yet to pick. 

Time to think about the next thing to do....

My Singer 503 has behaved beautifully..... still quiet and sturdy....

Except...

The original spindle size is too small for the spools of thread these days.  They are long enough so the spools won't bounce off, but they do bounce....and make noise...

Also, the holes in the spools are too wide for the spindles, and they shimmy and shake.  Sometimes I feel like I am making music for wild jitterbug dancers....

Understand, I can live with this....when the spools are full, they don't move around too much....but I do like to hear the sweet hum of the machine as I sew, and that "ain't gonna happen" as it stands now...

Other than bypassing the spindles altogether and using an off-the-machine holder for my thread, does anyone have a suggestion of something I might be able to use as a spacer? 

Anyone?  Anyone? 

(ie: Ferris Bueller)

Repeat and Repeat and Repeat - Over and Over and Over - That's What Makes a Quilt

I came to the conclusion a long time ago.....Making a quilt is a mixture of mindless repetition and stimulating activity.....

It makes your mind work and also gives it a time to rest. You can be lulled into automation and then awakened........

Well, you get the idea....

I am now to the point of  "Will I EVER get finished with this thing!?"

No, I don't mean....well, maybe I do mean... the packing laid out for that sewing machine for my sister in the background..... (sigh)

I'm not finished,,,,,,yet,,,,,,,but I only have 4 more rows to do....No, not those 4 bundles,,,,those will be one of the 3 borders around the quilt.  

BTW , aren't those clips cute!  Got several packages of 4 each from Harbor Freight...they are hard plastic, hold well, easy on the fabric and big enough to hold bunches...and they are easy to see in amongst a pile of stuff!

I am pinning together the last of my blocks from these...

There are slight variations in the piles....I have gotten to the point that all the 4 square blocks kinda blend in together anyway....

 This project is also ongoing....

  I am still not sure how I will sew the 9 patches so I am stalling by starting on the bunnies....sewing around them several times.... what's that called,,,,,,echoing, shadowing, ?????

See ya.....

Wash Day Stars - Ongoing

I finally have gotten back to my sewing after a great while...

I'm using my bed to lay out the finished/unfinished rows.  Rows 1-15 are together; rows 16-19 are being laid out here; rows 20-23 yet to do, then 3 borders.

Since I have been back, my sewing as suffered, as I mentioned...just other things to do.

...My DH had cataract surgery and he is up and running now; I had to drive him everywhere!

 my house needed TLC when I got back....actually DH kept it nice and neat...just needed a lot of tweaking; 

...A lot of visiting;

...A lot of resting after trip;

...Yard work

One of the loads we took to the back pasture...trimmed trees, cleaned and clipped brush from fence, and vines from this... it still runs, FYI.

BEFORE

AFTER

And guess when we did the yard work?   The week it was  HOT HOT HOT

It hit 104 & 105.......We were in and out during the several days we worked and did most of  it was after 8:00pm when it cooled down to about 85 or 90....