Current Events

Quilter's ADD...I started a new project, even though I haven't finished the QOV Mystery or the May blocks for my block-of-the-month project! And I have quite a pileof UFO's tucked away that probably only need a border or something to finish. But, at least this is a stash project, so I do get credit for avoiding unnecessary spending. The pattern is Twisted Sister by Ami Simms. I am using black backgrounds and a variety of brown, gold and green batiks. Hopefully this is a masculine look, because it is destined for another returning soldier!

Friday the family went to the Desert Botanical Gardens to see the Chihuly exhibit "The Nature of Glass." This blue and purple collection was in perhaps the most gorgeous section...right under a palo verde tree that provided lots of shade!

Here are some pink "fiddleheads" with green swirllies (yep, technical term) among some prickly pear.

At the entrance, you are greeted by glass yucca formations and agave/century plants on the terraces. The whole place is beautiful.

Just for Amy

Amy is a quilt-blogging friend (aka The Calico Cat) and she's on an I-Spy kick. I promised her a picture of the one I made for Baby K last fall...here is the back. In real life, it's a dark purple from the Moda Marbles line. I used a simple crosshatch and spirals in the border.

Here's the front side. I'd take a full size picture, but I haven't gotten around to binding it yet. Bad mommy!

May Update

Finished half of a pair of Shur'tugal socks in STR Alley Oop (details on Ravelry).

Almost to the end of the mystery quilt!

Baby K continues to brighten every day with her smiles.

Daddy brought home a huge flower arrangement from his school's graduation, and K "planted" on in the yard.

And then she got in touch with her inner farmer...

Yay Photos!

My life over the last week or so...
I love working on this quilt since the fabrics are right up my alley. Lots of blue and wonderful prints, some batik and lots of Kaffe Fasset! I got all the blocks outlined, then I am filling in some free-hand feathers, using a multi-color thread on top and a navy blue on the back. A tip for stitching feathers that I learned from DeLoa Jones: think of curving into the spine like the curve of a freeway on-ramp. You come in at a gentle angle, not straight across! Also, imagine how a question mark curves from top to bottom. Gidget has a new favorite spot to nap in the evenings. She isn't very social, but she comes halfway down the stairs to hang out.
Here is Kendra with some of our Topsy Turvy brand tomatoes. I added them to the sausage and rice we had for dinner last night.
And here she is before swim lessons. I wanted a nice pose with the pool in the background, but she didn't cooperate! This is our first year of formal lessons. It's a parent-tot class, so I am in the pool with her. We practice kicking and blowing bubbles. She does not want to put her face in yet, but she looks forward to the Hokey Pokey and playing with the toys in the shallow beach-entry area at the end of class each day.

Text Only

Here's a glimpse inside my head...

There are no pictures for this post because the camera is upstairs and I am too lazy to run up and get it. Plus, I want to take a few pictures of the QOV mystery quilt that I am working on, but I'd probably get sidetracked sewing or something and then never make it back to the blog post!

I had a good Mother's Day. I let Daddy get up at 6am with our little angel, and woke up to coffee on the patio an hour later. Their card to me was perfect - a little grumpy-faced baby with the caption "Mom, I know I'm difficult and spoiled rotten...Fortunately I'm cute enough to make up for it." Baby K is two-and-three-quarters, and we get a screeching NOOOOOO if we ask her to do something. Of course, two seconds later we ask and get a sweet "Yes, Mama." On the patio this morning, she decided to jump rope. I missed a fantastic video opportunity because all she was doing was holding a rope and jumping up and down. It made me laugh so hard!

Then we went to church and I was able to sew for a bit while K. took her nap. Then it was off to Grandma's house for dinner. Sunday afternoons are so hard to manage because we can never predict naptime. The plan is always to put her down when we get home around 12:30 and let her sleep 2 hours or so. Today we were late because we stopped for lunch, and then it took a while for her to quiet down. So, we had to wake her up, which is a slow process and she's always grumpy for about an hour. But, it worked out because Grandma has fun toys and K. got to sit on the tractor!

Tomorrow starts the last full week of school here in Arizona. I have one more unit test to give and then next week I will do a couple days of review before final exams. And what will I do with my free time over the summer? Quilt, quilt and more quilting! I have several QOVs to finish this month, then two for friends, then my own pile which I don't even dare to count. At least then I'll have pictures to share!

Guidance

Here is my progress on the QOV Mystery (#7 from Persimmon Quilts). There are lots more red and white half square triangles ready, plus tons of 2 7/8 inch white squares for Clue #2. There are some people who can't stand mystery projects because they need to know what the whole thing looks like, but I enjoy the suspense. Birthday and Christmas presents can sit in my house for weeks ahead of the actual day, too! (That used to drive my college roommate crazy, ha ha.)

A few years ago, I took a class from Jackie Robinson, who told us that we were all perfectly capable of making half-square triangles WITHOUT drawing a line across one of the fabrics! I took that admonishment to heart. Here is the process I use:
Although smaller squares are easier, I am currently working with 5-inch pieces!My machine is set up with a quarter-inch foot, and the extension table has a ruler printed on it. You can see from the Purple Thang (TM) that I have markers to help me line up the fabric. If I am sewing 1/4 inch off the diagonal to get 2 half square triangels, then I line up the point right under the right-hand edge of my presser foot. Then, I watch the bottom corner of the fabric and make sure it crosses over my markers...the spot on my ruler and also the line on my bobbin case. Figure out some markers on your own machine and save some time piecing those half-square triangles.

I saw a hilarious description of the quilt binding process on this blog. (warning - adult language)