30s Ohio Stars

here is a sample of some Ohio Stars done in 30s prints for a swap I am a part of. I can now mark that off my list of 'to dos' and get back to working on my August UFO - the Black, Red, White RR for my friend. I have apples to put up this afternoon after church and then I am going to at least put on the thin black border that is supposed to come next. Might try and start cutting for the last border set too.

until next time ... happy quilting

working on the borders

I know ... I know ... I didn't follow Tirane's layout exactly but I wanted to make it simplier to piece - so I used bricks instead of all those squares. I like the way it is coming along - now to work on the next set of borders.

until next time ... happy quilting

Progress on Black, White, Red Rows

Finally got to do some sewing tonight. I put in an hour and a half on this tonight and got the center all together and the first border on it. Whew! Now to start on the outter borders ... lots of piecing but it will be worth it. Gonna do a few more things before bed and then start sewing on this one in the morning. Take a looksee and see what ya think so far. {sorry I laid this one out quickly so I could snap a picture. will do better on the next one ;o) }

TIRANE thanks so much for working this up for me ... click on her name and you will see what is kinda supposed to look like when it is all done and maybe if I am so lucky it will turn out this nicely.
until next time ... happy sewing!!

August Goals Update

not much sewing going on this week but I have made some progress on my goals lately. It's mid August already - I had better kick it into gear if I am going to complete at least half of the goals on my list this month. Who else has goals that they'd like to complete this month? How do you stay motivated to do so? I have so many irons in the fire I get over-whelmed at times with everything that needs to be done and that I want to get done.

Here are only the goals with updates ... not too shabby of a progress update
2. Finish reworking Kimberly's Black and White RR - decided to not take them apart but do some fabulous border to tie them all together instead. -- I have put the rows together in pairs so far. Now to get the whole center pieced and start on those wonderful borders. Anyone got any reds, black and white or burgandies they want to swap out please let me know. I need a nice combination of fabrics to make these borders pop!
5. Continue to sort and organize my stash for better access - I am making some nice progress here. Slowly but surely I am getting there - will take some updated pictures soon. Still have lots to do though. -- I got a nice storage unit from my sister and worked on that stash stuffed under the bar. It looks much nicer. I will have to take a picture and show ya soon. I am giving away some flannel pieces I found while cleaning that area to a quilty friend who does Linus quilts. I am trading off some other fabrics that I found and know I will never use that someone else might. Gonna keep on sorting and organizing. I am finding fabric I didn't know I had. lol
6. Continue to sort and organize my patterns so I can find them more easily - I have started putting these into four binders and will keep at it as I find the time to do so. Gonna thin as I go. -- I have been working on this on and off - almost done with this one - hope to complete it over the weekend while watching a good movie!
9. Work on decluttering my house more - do small tasks as I can. If I don't love it, need it, use it or can wear it - it needs to go. This will be a never ending goal of mine. lol -- We had a yard sale last weekend and got rid of a ton of DDs clothes and lots of other stuff too. Nothing like decluttering and making some money doing so ;o)

until next time ... happy quilting and take steps and work on those goals

Summer, School, Sewing

Summer weather is really in full swing here - it's so hot and humid and really miserable to be outside. Nothing like summers in the south. Anyone wanna help me put up figs, okra and apples? I have plenty to share if you want some.

It's hard to believe that it's time for another school year to start. Where did their summer break go? The kiddos started school last Wednesday. DD is in 9th grade and Little man is in 2nd grade. It is so hard to get them used to going to bed on time and getting up in the mornings so we are not late. UGH! I hate dealing with tired - cranky kids in the mornings ;o) Homework is going good though - both are doing it each evening without me having to fuss at them. YEAH!!! Hope this continues - bet it won't though.

On the sewing front .. I plan on doing some sewing but haven't as of yet. The month is a third over and I have yet to get anything on my list accomplished. I hope to get the black/white/ red rows all sewn together tonight and try and work on this one a bit each day as part of a UFO challenge on a quiling site I am a member of. We are to spend 20 minutes a day on our August UFO and post your progress as you go along. I have been bad and haven't done not one 20 minute session yet. Gonna do better the rest of the month though. I did two nights of sewing on this and got the rows sewn into pairs and pressed ready for joining together into fours. I have sorted some black and white fabrics. Need to pull my reds and burgandies still. Hope to have pictures of this center top done by Friday night and the first two borders done by Saturday night. Wish me luck!
until next time ... happy quilting

August Goals

Thanks Babs for the reminder to post my August goals. I am a bit behind but it is okay.
I'm going to be expanding my list a bit this month. Maybe I will be able to mark some more off by the end of the month ;o)
From my July list .... some of these will never get off the list as finished but I am happy with the progress I have made so far on them.
1. Finish Mother's 30s Quilt - need to piece a backing and get this one quilted and bound.
2. Finish reworking Kimberly's Black and White RR - decided to not take them apart but do some fabulous border to tie them all together instead.
3. Finish String Quilt - blocks are here just waiting to be used; I thinking of combining them with the TN blocks to make my little man a large quilt for his bed.
4. Clean out my closet and redo my bedroom - started but not much progress yet. Need to really attack it on a weekend I don't have the kiddos. Thinking the weekend of the 15th.
5. Continue to sort and organize my stash for better access - I am making some nice progress here. Slowly but surely I am getting there - will take some updated pictures soon. Still have lots to do though.
6. Continue to sort and organize my patterns so I can find them more easily - I have started putting these into four binders and will keep at it as I find the time to do so. Gonna thin as I go.
7. Continue to thin out my scraps - I haven't thinned out any scraps but I have been organizing them. Will try and make some crumb blocks this month and some pineapple blocks too.
8. Lose 6 more pounds and more - still need to lose the 6 pounds but am at a standstill. Need to try harder and exercise more.
New goals added for August
9. Work on decluttering my house more - do small tasks as I can. If I don't love it, need it, use it or can wear it - it needs to go.
10. Finish the Bears in the Farmhouse quilt to use as a raffle quilt for my friend who was diagnose with ovarian cancer. It is quilted just needs to be bound.
11. Rework DDs room to fit in the bigger bed - we will see how this one goes
until next time ... happy quilting and take steps and work on those goals

30s Sampler Top is now DONE!!

I am happy to say that Mother's 30s Sampler is finally a TOP. I put the remaining border on this morning. I took it outside to get a better picture of it. Whatcha think?

It is rather large ... 90x96 I think I measured but they have a full size cedar bed - that is high off the floor so it should work nicely for them.

Now to decide on a backing.......
until next time ... happy quilting

Input - Ideas Please

I am reworking some rows for a friend of mine and need some input. Here they are .. whatcha think ??


when she started the swap she made her row and asked for black and white and red blocks. This is what she got and she is a bit disappointed with the colors of 'RED' they chose. To me there are burgandies in here too, which should have been used but were. I told her I'd try and rework the rows - taking them apart and laying them out differently and so on.


I was thinking of using a white sashing around the blocks to break up the colors and then using black and white prints with various red prints thrown in as bricks around the center. What do you think? Would that look okay? Would that tie it all together?

sewing quiltathon anyone??

Today I am going to do some sewing if anyone wants to join in and post along with me today of their progress please do so. Motivation and encouragement go a long way. My friends TIRANE and SHARON are now sewing along with me ... anyone else wanna join in please do so.
I have two projects I am going to be sewing on today. One is my Mother's 30s Sampler and the other is my friend's Black, White and Red Rows that are going to be re-created. Hope to make progress on both of them today. Shoot would love to finish one of them!

7:00AM
Iron is warming, fabric, blocks, center are all pulled waiting to get started creating.
9:00AM
Have two sides added around the center. Sashing joined to the other two sides and need to get them added and then onto the next step.

11:30AM
Here is what I have gotten done so far. I messed up though but I'm not taking it out. I'll just make it work and go from here. Gonna take a sewing break and go mow the grass before it rains again. I'll be back at it later on though. I'm gonna finish this one today!

2:00PM
The grass is as done as I can get it - it's pouring now so what I didn't get done will be done on Monday. Now to work on the last border of this one and finish this top tonight! Gonna go check on Sharon and Tirane to see what they are up to in their sewing rooms.
4:30PM
I'm taking a break to update and get off my feet for a bit. I have all the squares cut for the scrappy border. next step will be the piecing of them. Still raining here so it nice and relaxing to hear it hit the vent pipes. Ting, Ting.
11:00PM
calling it quits on this one ... I have all the squares sewn together and laid out around the center. I'll sew them into place in the morning before church. Thanks for sewing along with me Tirane and Sharon. It's finally stopped raining - think I'm going to open the windows for the rest of the night.

until next time ... happy quilting

sewing room cleanup update

I have made some nice progress this week doing the challenge to clean up my sewing area. (will post photos later) I am happy to say that I did a fast cleanup of the area last night and then I started working on the patterns and putting them into binders. I am about 1/4 of the way through the patterns and plan on working on them again tomorrow night while watching a good movie to help pass the time ;O) and get these put away. I trimmed down the cut-offs pictured in the previous posts - some down to 2.5 and the rest at 3.0 - those went into the drawer units with the precut squares for a scrappy project yet to be discovered.
I have been cleaning and organizing this week with the hopes of sewing on the 30s Sampler for my Mother tomorrow. I am GOING to finish this one this weekend!! That is my number one goal. I will post my update in the morning - might turn it into a sewing marathon.
Anyone up to join me for a sewing marathon tomorrow. Please let me know and we can encourage and motivate each other to make some progress.
This weeks challenge on the quilting site I belong to is to make a quilt top - I hope to complete this challenge tomorrow!
until next time ... happy quilting