SUNDAY YARD WORK

The man is out of town, so it feels like my schedule is just off.

I went and got groceries by myself.  It was not the same.

I made one block from the first Splendid Sampler (still trying to catch up).  Then I went out and spent the rest of the day working on cleaning up the sidewalks and driveway.  There's lots and lots of tree debris.  I used the air compressor which saved my back and shoulders from all the sweeping that would have been involved otherwise.  (Having a big shop in the backyard has its advantages sometimes).  I filled up the yard waste container - yea!

FRIDAY LITE

I took Bluebird off the machine, here's the back showing the label:

I got to work on the latest Splendid Sampler 2.  I still need to applique the circles down, so I can't say it's finished yet.

Then I made a few more from Splendid Sampler 1:

Happy Birthday Dad! [who would have been 91 today]

QUILTING BLUEBIRD

I got this little quilt, Bluebird, loaded onto the machine yesterday.  I didn't want to start quilting it until I could dedicate some time to it.   I figured I could finish it in one setting.

I bought a panto, called Good Vibrations, for it.  It's basically a wave.

This afternoon I got it finished - just barely.

I had a few problems - my fault.  I didn't check the tension on the back.  It looked okay on the front so I went ahead and put in the first pass.  When I rolled the quilt I noticed how bad the tension was on the back.  I mean really bad!  So bad, it was super easy to pick it out - which I did - from the back.

Then I went ahead and did the rest of the quilt and went back and re-did the first pass.  And it worked!  It lined up and stitched back in the same place.  Hopefully no one will know but you and I.

HAPPY SOLSTICE!

BH2 BLOCK THREE

It's Wednesday!  That means it's time for the next Moda Block Head block to be revealed.

And then to make it.

Then I made another City Sampler block.  I hate making stitch and flip triangles.  They never turn out right for me.  This time I went ahead and drew the diagonal stitch line on the back.  That probably helped a bit.

CHANGED MY MIND

Well, of course I changed my mind - it was a crazy plan.

During a conversation with my mom, she asked why I didn't take it off the machine and un-pick it - wouldn't it be easier?  I said no at the time, but the more I thought about it the more I began to see that she was right.  It's really difficult to reach the underside when its on the machine.  Add that to the fact that the machine would be tied up for months, I changed my mind.

It's off the machine - I'm going to work on picking it out while I sit and watch TV.

Here are some pictures of the really poor tension on the back.

So, on to something else for now.

I finished up this little top and started thinking about the back.

I decided to dye some fabric.  Blue.

TWO HOURS

OMG, it took two hours to pick out one block.

Two hours.

Do I want to commit to this?

If I did one block a day (which I won't) it will take 49 days.

It will tie up my longarm for months.

But on the other hand - what else have I got to do?

LONGARMING LEXINGTON

I took out my Lexington quilt to finish quilting it.

I had done some straight-line stitch-in-the-ditch with my domestic Bernina and trimmed off all the  excess.

I had to sew some leaders on two ends so I could pin it up on the machine.

Oh my, I didn't realize it was 98" square - it just barely fits on the machine.

The quilting I had done with the Bernina was really bad, the tension on the back is particularly bad.

I struggled with what to do - I decided to pick it out and do some computerized work on it instead.

My think is I can pick out a block then re-quilt it - a block t a time.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

I remembered my purpose and started working on a small quilt that has been sitting around for awhile.  Duh.

Simple piecing - easy peasy.

I've still got to make the sashing.  

And find the other one like this - I think I've lost it.

This came in the mail today-  

Solids of the Month!  and a new color card, too.

MISCELLANEOUS DAY

I got out my Lexington quilt - the last time I worked on it was in 2015.  I had started quilting it on my Bernina 1230.  The quilt was too big and cumbersome and I knew I couldn't do it right on the domestic machine.  Now that I have a longarm, I thought I'd give it a shot again. 

I had to add some leaders to it because I had trimmed all the excess backing  off.  After I got it loaded up, I spent some time just staring at it.  I have no idea what to quilt on it.

Then I spent way too much making two more City Sampler blocks.  I had a hard time.  On the first one, I kept putting the pieces together wrong and having to re-cut the fabrics.

 I gave up and went with my husband out for lunch at Zippy's.

SAMPLE SALE

A lady in my neighborhood is a fabric rep of some sort and every year she has a sale and sells her old fabric samples for $4 a pound.

It's great fun.  I bought 8 pounds of fabric I didn't need or have room for.

Life is good.

SPLENDID SAMPLER 2 STARTS

I'm doing it again - and I haven't even finished the first one.

Here we go...

This one is named "Quilt Market".  [They aren't numbering them this time]

It's a conglomeration of strips

Lining up a 6-1/2" ruler

The excess is cut off.

The official finished photo.

I felt so guilty about not having worked on the first SS, that I did the next block.  I think it's number 53.

BLOCK 2

Moda Block Heads 2 Block 2 is a 6" block.  Very quick and simple.

I forgot to show the fabrics I'm using for this project.   So, here they are:

SOMEPLACE DIFFERENT

We decided to take our dog walk someplace different than the same ole' Lincoln Park.

The husband is busy all week teaching a woodworking class, so the dogs and I headed to Schmitz Park in the Admiral district.

I've been here before many times, but I don't think these dogs have been.

I let Jelly off the leash and she did very well, staying close and coming back when I called her.  

The weather was absolutely perfect.  It had rained last night so everything was wet and a little muddy.  But today the sky is blue and beautiful and the sun is shining.

I almost got the sign in the photo.

Jelly thinks I walk too slow.

Jax posing under the Admiral Way overpass.

Jax was very impressed with the graffitti all over the overpass.

We walked to the end of the park, it's all uphill with the last bit being very steep as you climb out of the ravine.  It comes out on a deadend street.  The only way back is by the same trail.  My fitbit said it was only .7 miles to that point.  We need to get at least 2 miles in, so we decided to take another trail on the way out.

The plan was to go up this side trail and find a geocache and then come back down and go out the way we come in.  The side trail turned out to be very steep, narrow and overgrown.  I was soaked through from all the wet bushes.  I was worried I'd slip and fall on the way back down so we kept going up until we exited the park to the street - great view.  Then we trekked down the street and re-entered the park and continued on our walk in the park.

View when we exited the park!  Wow.

 We came to a little creek that we had to cross - the doggos were not going for it.  

I showed them the rocks to walk across, but they were still hesitant.  

You want me to jump that six inches over water!?

Wait for me!

This is a cool feature of the fitbit - you can track your activity and share it if you want.  Here is our walk into, out of, and back into the park.

It was a nice adventure.

ORGANIZING

I didn't feel like sewing - I need to start a new project - and that sounded too difficult today.

I organized a couple of fabric drawers instead.

I cut the comic boards down and then fold and wrap the fabric.

I even ejected a few pieces from my stash (fabrics I just can't see me ever using).

SATURDAY LITE

Not much interesting stuff going on today.

I finished the Rectangles chapter with this last one:

Then started on the Triangles chapter in Tula's City Sampler Blocks book:

Now I'm going to go watch Justify win the Triple Crown...