This blogging stuff will make me crazy

I wrote out an entire post, posted it, opened a new window to make sure it was there (it was) and then did another post. When it posted I couldn't find the other one I posted. Argh!

So anyhow the post was about all the work my dh has been doing as he has been laid off for 5 weeks. He's been very busy - working outside when it's not too hot. He painted the front door, porch and all the shutters on the house. He also handwashed the entire front of the house! He poured a new concrete step in front of the door from our bedroom to the outside of the house. He's going to do a brick walkway that will lead from the driveway, turn to that door and also continue straight to the "garbage garage" he's building for our trash and recycling cans. Also in the works are a basketball court and a clothesline.

When it got really hot he moved inside and built me this gorgeous spice rack into the back of my pantry door. Now he's putting up brick paneling in the kitchen and repainting (if I can decide what color I want).

recent quilting adventures

I'm so new to this blogging stuff that I have no clue how to add more than one picture at a time without them ending up in a row along the top. So that leads to another post today.

This is the most recent quilt I finished. It's a flip flop quilt that is very lightweight. I didn't use any batting and tied it. It's the first thing I've done an entire top with machine applique. I enjoyed it and I'm happy with how it turned out but I do need more practice.

Another Day

I have finally gotten my digital problems worked out (I hope). So I'm posting pictures of my last three projects. The first one is the 30s repro. I already posted a picture of the top but it's finished now. I also have the picture of Ryan's football quilt. And the last project is a wallhanging I made for the bathroom. I found the pattern in a Quilter's World issue. Of course, having problems with following the rules like I do, I changed it a bit. This one is completely machine stitched. I do all my piecing by machine but like to quilt by hand. Every once in a while I decide I have too many tops that need quilted and so I'll do one or two by machine. I'm still not that good at machine quilting but the only way to get better is to keep practicing. I also did the binding by machine. I generally don't like how my machine bindings look but this one I did a self binding and just stitched as close to the edge as possible. I'm happy with how it turned out. I'm calling it Flowers for Mom because I finished it on Mother's Day. Giving names to my quilts is a bit new to me. I've named a few but I think I'd like to name them all now. So it's interesting coming up with names that "fit". The 30s quilt I named Gracie's Friends. I used a piece of Gracie fabric for the backing and the fabrics in the top came from my friends.

Today's accomplishments

Well I got my 30s repro quilt quilted. I just need to put the binding and label on. I finished up my oldest son's high school graduation quilt today. It's a football field with his name and jersey number on it. It's been done for a while but I hadn't done the label. I'll post some pictures as soon as I can get my computer to cooperate with me. I've been downloading pictures onto my webshots album and printing pictures all day because his prom was yesterday. Now the printer is telling me that I don't have the printer software loaded onto the computer. Enough to aggrevate anyone. But I can post a picture of my son and his girlfriend. They had a fabulous time and they looked so sweet together. I absolutely love her dress. You can't see it from the picture but it has a small train. The dress has a hook on the back that holds the train up in the back sort of like a wedding dress. The picture was taken at High Rock which is close to our house. It's high up on a mountain and there's a rock formation (behind them) that people hang glide from. Makes a gorgeous backdrop. I took over 200 hundred pictures but this is my favorite posed one. I have a favorite one that I took when they weren't looking too.

Starting Up

I've decided to jump into this blogging stuff. I'm hoping to post about my quilting on a regular basis. I'm working on a variety of projects right now and really have the urge to finish something up. I think my target project is going to be a lap quilt I've done in 30s repros fabrics. This one is very special to me because the fabrics all came from my friends. I'm on the best Yahoo group on the web - Quilter's Who Homeschool Too. These ladies are like my sisters and I feel like I've known them all my life. We were doing a 30s repros swap that I really wanted to participate in but we were going through a rough patch financially so I stayed out of the swap. Well these wonderful ladies knew how much I wanted to play along and so they each sent me a fq of gorgeous 30s fabrics. Did I mention they're the best? lol. I have a great backing fabric picked out from the Aunt Grace Signature Line II group that has pictures of Gracies all over it. I figure it will help to remind me of my "sisters" who sent me the fabric for the top. Hopefully it won't be too long until I can post the finished project.