Busy Week

I actually finished up two things this week. The first was my DIC. I had the fabric for the outer border but needed something for the inner one. I picked up a piece of navy blue fabric and added a thin border of it and then the final border fabric. Now it's finished and sitting on my ever growing to be quilted pile. Here's the picture:



Then the next thing I finished up was Joyce's round robin. That's the final one I will have in this group. Three of the seven have made their way home and they are all gorgeous. I can't wait to see mine and I know the last girl to work on it has it now so it won't be long.

Here's Joyce's:



What I've been working on mostly the past couple of days is the handquilting on my rail fence. I also have done a little sewing for the mystery quilt I'm working on. It's not starting until March but I want to give everyone time to get their fabric so I'm hoping to have the top complete by the end of next week or so.

Until next time, hugs and stitches. Jody

Traditional quilting

I'm sure we all have our idea of what it is. I asked a group of online friends what they considered traditional quilting and found it interesting what they had to say.

My idea of traditional quilting is using patterns that have been around for years and years and years and what I would consider old fashioned fabrics - no novelty fabrics, no neons, none of the abstracts I've seen lately. I suppose mainly either solids or calico fabrics.

I've done lots of work with novelty prints (finally got that out of my system lol) and I've done lots of patterns I find in magazines and online, etc. But I want to make some things that I would think would have been around years ago. My goal is to make one "traditional" quilt a year until I finish all the ones I want to make (which could take a while as the list continues to grow lol).

Right now I am hand quilting my rail fence which I started last year. I also have a Sunbonnet Sue on the "to be quilted" pile. I've got my Double Irish Chain all done but the borders (can't find just the right fabric).

I found some fabric I liked and decided to make a Bear's Paw with it. But I just kept looking at the fabric and not actually cutting it. It turns out the reason for that is that the fabric wasn't really meant for a Bear's Paw. It seems it was made for a Trip Around The World quilt.

The first block I ever made was a Trip block. I attempted to make a quilt a year or two ago. I strip pieced it and it just didn't lay right so I got frustrated and threw it in the trash.

But I was looking at pictures of the Trip quilts my friend Joyce has made (she's a bit of an expert at Trip quilts) and decided the fabric I bought for the Bear's Paw would be perfect for a trip quilt. Only problem - I had only gotten three fabrics and I would need more for a trip. So I went out the road to my favorite local quilt shop. It's a small place and they don't have a huge selection but I always seem to find something I can use. It's run by some Mennonite ladies and they are very friendly. I found more fabric, brought it home and laid it out. I took pictures, rearranged the fabric and took more pictures and started to consider them. I was really having a hard time so I started cutting squares. Then I started laying the squares out in the Trip pattern. Again I took pictures but this time I printed them out and hung them on the big mirror in my bedroom. I had seven pictures and eliminated three or four of them right off the bat.

The more I looked the more I realized that what I didn't like was the same in every picture - there was one fabric that just didn't work well with everything else. So I took that fabric out, added more rounds with my focus fabric and found something I really like.

This one I did by individual squares rather than strip piecing and I think it lays pretty flat.

And this is the finished top:



I finished it in about three or four days, neglecting all but the basic necessities of housework (mainly laundry and meals). It's terrible but I get that way. I can't wait to see the finished product.

I'm still not sure how I will finish the quilt. Joyce leaves her points points and miters all the corners when she puts on the binding. I love the way that looks but I'm afraid I would be overwhelmed and not finish it. She said that you can just level off those points to a straight edge and that may be what I'll do. It's sitting on my to be quilted pile so I don't have to make a decision until I'm ready to quilt it. And being that I have three or four others before I get to it I have plenty of time to decide. lol.

Until next time, hugs and stitches. Jody

At long last

there's a new quilt. Sort of. It's just the top but I am way ahead of schedule because this is my Christmas 2008 quilt.



I haven't named this one yet. I got the fabrics from a couple of online swaps. The pattern is called Cheaper By The Dozen. I didn't get the pattern book - I've never even seen it up close. I just looked at the cover online and figured out how to make the blocks but I believe the "Dozen" is for the number of fat quarters you need to make it. I made mine a bit larger than the one I saw. Mine is 4 blocks by 5 blocks (the one I saw was 3 by 4 - so maybe the dozen is for how many blocks you finish with).

I'm thinking of getting some light colored fabric for the backing and some colored thread and using my new machine's stipple stitch to quilt it.

Yes that's right. My new machine. I got a new machine for Christmas. Now remember I'm just a simple country girl so there are no Janomes or Berninas for me. It's a Brother CS 6000i. I have been using a Brother for the past three or four years and I love them. But I wanted a blanket stitch and the old one didn't have it. This new one has 60 different stitches. I did a sample of the stipple and it looks great but before I start quilting a quilt I want to play around a bit - changing the size and such.

I have been keeping busy but I've been doing mostly round robins and I can't post those here until they are back to their owners. Oh wait, Julie has hers back so let's see if I can find my picture of that one.

Okay - this is what I received in the mail:



And this is what it looked like after I added my round:



Julie did the leaves in the center. The it went to Kymberli - who was supposed to do a framed border. She did the acorns framed in turquoise. Then it went to Susan who was to do a two color border. She did the orange and brown with the bear's paws in the corners. Barb got it next and she put on the brown border. Then on to Frances who did the appliqued pumpkins and leaves. The requirement for my row was to use triangles. So I echoed Susan's round and did a plain border with bear's paws blocks in the corners. Then it went on to Joyce to put on the final border before going on to Julie. I am so proud to be working with this group of very talented ladies.

I am having so much fun with this swap. I have Joyce's now and I'm doing her final border.

Until next time, hugs and stitches.

Jody

Hello Again

Nothing new on the quilting front but we have had a major development in our family this week.

Our middle son Joe has had some medical problems. This is him this past summer.



When he was just a couple years old we noticed that when he was really upset his arms and back would sort of jerk. After a quick trip to the family doctor during one episode we found ourselves on the way to Johns Hopkins for a four day stay in the EMU - epilepsy monitoring unit. During that time Joe had a number of measurable seizures and we found out that he also has a condition known as hyperinsulinism. His body over produces insulin and this is a very dangerous situation. Hyperinsulinism is relatively new as far as diseases go. It got it's name in 1995. There are only about 600 doctors worldwide who know how to treat it and many of the treatments are experimental. There is only one oral drug and one injectable drug to treat it. He is on the oral and when he was first diagnosed it was almost impossible to get. At one point the manufacturer was so far behind they would only sell it to hospitals. So our local pharmacy had to buy it from the hospital and then resell it to us.

He also had generalized seizure disorder. If you notice I said had. He has been off the medicine and seizure free for a year now.

Back to the hyperinsulinism. We have seen three doctors for this. The doctor who diagnosed it at Johns Hopkins - told us as head of endocrinology for Johns Hopkins he only knew as much about the disease as a junior staff member at a Children's Hospital would know. So off to Philadelphia we went. This doctor wanted to do surgery with no guarantees so we asked about a second opinion and ended up in Pittsburgh.

The doctor in Pittsburgh is the top man in the field anywhere in the world and we were thrilled that he was able to see Joe. Granted we had to wait a while and getting follow up appointments are harder to get than an audience with the Pope but we have been going there for about 6 or 7 years.

He said no surgery the first time we went up. And a couple of years ago he said that Joe would probably outgrow the condition in the next few years. So we were up there yesterday and the doctor said it's time to start weaning Joe off the medicine. It's going to take until next summer but he's coming off it and we are thrilled.

And we owe it all to God. We have danced this dance for seven years and He has been there every step of the way. I'm one of those people that has a hard time hearing God. I always wondered if I heard God or if I heard something in my head that I wanted to hear. But I have had some encounters with God through this. I learned a few things and I'd like to share them.

A few months before Joe was diagnosed I heard a pastor who had had brain surgery speak and he said that when he was first diagnosed with his tumor one of his parishioners told him not to ask God why but to ask God what. What do You want me to learn from this?

So I did that and came up with three things. Patience, submission and materialism.

You know I had all these things. I collected porcelain dolls and Longaberger baskets and who knows what all else. It was all about accumulating things. But when you're told your baby has a life threatening condition what good are they? None of those things would save Joe.

And I have struggled with submission since the first time I heard about it. Let my husband boss me around? Not me - no way. But then I found out what submission really is. I read a wonderful book - I believe it was called Liberated Through Submission. And during a Sunday School class the teacher (a woman) explained it in a way that made me see the beauty of it.

Oh and finally patience. I have NO patience for anything. But early in this dance God told me that He would heal Joe. As much trouble as I have discerning if it's God or me I know without a doubt that this was God. I realized that Joe is not mine. He is God's and God has given him to us to love and take care of but we don't know for how long that will be. So I realized that the only thing I could do was give Joe back to God. I'm a very visual person and I knew I had to visualize this. I had to see that I had given Joe back to God. So I imagined carrying Joe in my arms up a set of stairs. And at the top there was a throne. I walked over, kissed Joe and placed him on that throne. Then I did the hardest thing in the world - I turned around and walked back down those stairs without looking back. I cried but I had peace.

We prayed every step of the way and we always seemed to be getting a one word answer from God. Wait. When they wanted to do tests - Wait. When they wanted to do surgery - Wait.

And it would seem the waiting is coming to an end. I've learned the things I thought God wanted me to learn - sometimes more than once. lol. And He has taken care of my boy. Of course there is still the possibility that in the weaning process we will find that Joe still needs the medicine but right now he is on a minimal dosage anyhow so it's unlikely. Besides, God said He would heal Joe and God keeps His promises.

Jody

Row by row

Here it is finally - my row by row. Of course there is back story to this one. A bit more than a year ago my quilting group decided to do a round robin and a row by row swap. Since I had never done any of these before I decided to do the row by row. I figured on a row by row if I messed up terribly my row could just be left out. Whereas on the round robin if I messed up it was there and would have to stay.

So I did the row by row. I found some gorgeous Christmas fabric - poinsettias but in shades of pink, cream and sage green rather than the normal Christmas green and red and made up my row and sent it off. We had five or six people in each group although because of the way it was set up I did an extra row because I was sent one I wasn't supposed to get and I had done the row before I realized it.

The finished rows were due back to their owners by April 15 this year. All the rows for my project were done and it was sent to the last lady to do a row and then send it back to me. Unfortunately she won't send it back to me. She has acknowledged that she has it and she has promised more times than I can count to send it back but she still hasn't. I have offered numerous times to send her a postage paid envelope so she can send it back at my expense but she won't even reply to me.

Some of the lovely ladies on the group are such angels - they felt bad that everyone but me got their projects back - I should add that this same lady had three of the round robins way past their due date but she did eventually send them on. So anyhow these ladies made me some rows to replace the ones she never sent back.

I've had three of the rows for a couple of months - waiting because another lady was to make me one more row. About a week or so ago I decided the fourth lady apparently is not sending me the other row so I made some rows and finished it up myself. It's just the top and will need to go on the "to be quilted" pile but I'm rather happy with it.



Top row was done by Carol in Texas - the paper piecing queen of our quilting group. The second row - the trees - I did. The next row was done by Annie and uses blocks from a swap that we did a year ago (the one on the far left is one that I made), next is a pattern that I believe is called Crossroads. It's from Eleanor Burns UGRR book and is one that I made. Then is the row from Juanita from Australia and the last row is Maple Leaves that I made.

Huge thanks to Carol, Annie and Juanita for not only wanting me to have something out of this swap but for making it happen. I love you ladies.

Now on to other things (is there really anything other than quilting?).

We're finally finished with Ryan's room. He's coming home from college at the end of the semester to stay. He's decided to change his major and will need to go to another college. We were hoping he would finish out the year but he's decided to come home and work full time and start at a new college in the fall.

This is what his room looked like almost at the beginning - we had already stripped the wallpaper and removed the trim.



And this is the same section of the room finished.



Now to cleaning up the boxes and piles of stuff that we moved out of his room to do the work. Some of the stuff did find its way to the trash (of course it had to make its escape while he wasn't here lol). But most of it he's planning to stuff back in there somehow.

Well its time to hit the sewing room (aka my bedroom) and find something else to create.

Until next time, hugs and stitches. Jody

The "Dream" Quilt

You know I can't really remember when I discovered quilts. I think it was probably on a trip to Grandma Baker's house when I was a little girl. As far as I know other than her sister, my Great Aunt Mabel, no one else in the family quilted. Maybe it was on a trip to Lancaster. I can't remember when but I can remember being fascinated by the patterns, the colors and the fabrics. They all looked so complicated. Now I can look at the complicated ones and pick them apart and see they are really just a bunch of squares and half-square triangles, etc.

Anyhow I found a lot of patterns that I simply loved but there was one I like better than any of the rest of them. I wanted to learn to quilt to make one specific quilt. And then when I learned to quilt I learned that my favorite pattern was done in ~gasp~ applique! It seemed the end of the dream was in sight. Applique is not my friend.

Then one day, I was looking through a magazine and found my pattern done in paper piecing! Now paper piecing is not my friend either - but we are at least acquainted. But looking closely at the samples I realized it just wasn't the same. I needed to do this one by applique.

Over the past two or three years I have made modest attempts at machine applique. I'm feeling more comfortable with it. In fact I'm doing two round robins with online groups and each one I did machine applique on my center.

Last week I made a sample block and really got bit. It was time. I knew I was ready.

So here they are - the blocks of my "Dream" quilt. The quilt I have been wanting to make for more than 30 years. They are laid out as I will place them in the quilt but I am going to put sashing in between the rows.

"DREAMS DO COME TRUE"



So I thank God for giving me the chance to learn to quilt. And to make this special quilt. Good things are worth waiting for.

Till next time, hugs and stitches. Jody

It's been a while

but I have actually been productive. One of my biggest accomplishments was finishing my round on a round robin from my quilting group. Unfortunately I can't post a picture because these things are supposed to be surprises. But this one was very bright and simply gorgeous. After trying three or four things I decided it needed some simplicity. I hesitated with that because I didn't want it to seem like I didn't make an effort. But sometimes you have to do what the quilt needs - not what you'd like to do. I have another one coming in the mail right now. I've seen pictures of it and it is very, very bright. I have to do a pieced border so it should be fun.

I have finished a couple of things. The first is my Log Cabin Christmas Wreath. I wanted to add a pink velvet bow to it but I can't find anything around here but red and burgandy. So I found this gold poofy bow. I think it should be a bit larger but since it's not permanently attached I can always change it if I can find something better.



I also made my name tag for my quilting guild. When you join you need to make a Sunbonnet Sue name tag. Some of the ladies just have Sue and their name on it. Some put their pins from quilt shows. And most of them have their golden safety pins. For each completed project you bring for show and tell you get a golden safety pin. I have three things to take to the next meeting - if they count the name tag I'll have four. It's next Monday and I doubt I'll finish anything else before then.



On the home front - we're getting things ready to paint Ryan's room. He's made a change in his college plans. He wants to change his major and his current college doesn't offer what he wants. He'd like to do phys ed for elementary age kids. So he's talked to his adviser, taken some aptitude tests and decided to come home at the end of the semester and work full-time until next fall's semester.

He was coming home this past weekend and I told Rodger he should call his cell phone to see how much longer he would be - Timmy had fallen asleep on the couch and when Ryan's here he always carries Timmy to bed when he falls asleep on the couch. Oh those memories. Rodger carried him back. It's hard to believe my baby is so big.



Report cards came home yesterday. Joe and Timmy both made the honor roll. This is Timmy's first time because they don't do honor roll until 3rd grade. They both also got perfect attendance for the first marking period. Joe will have to miss at least one day this coming marking period because we have a doctor appointment with his endocrinologist in December.

Well it's time to get the boys up and moving and ready for school so until next time

Hugs and Stitches, Jody