Dr. Ray to the Rescue......

All rolled on and ready to quilt - love the colors.  Guess this is where I mention that I LOST the spool of thread!!  I bet BeeBee ran off with it for payback because "somebody" shut her up in the sewing room all night Thursday night!!

I went to Joann's earlier this afternoon to get some thread to match the backing and it is a good thing I got three spools - they were much smaller than they looked I used TWO of them!!  

I thought about how I wanted to quilt the top and remembered that I had some pantographs with stippling rolled up...somewhere.

I found the pantograph I was looking for and got a BONUS - several pages of stippling that I traced quite some time ago...

I decided that the stippling was too small and I found another BONUS...a roll of paper I bought who knows when that is made just for sewing thru.  I cut the paper just a little bigger than the quilt width and traced it.  Yes, the machine has a laser light but I like to watch the sewing going on and it helps me keep up with where I am but obviously I was not watching it close enough...

BeeBee is picking up Chewie's bad habits - he likes to plop his butt down on whatever I'm reading or working on, starts purring and settles in - guess who did that just as I finished taping the paper down to start tracing...

Detour...Pretty cool huh?  this is a scrap from cutting curves - I think it looks like either a piece of candy, Darth Vader's tie fighter hauling ass because he's being chased by the Millenium Falcon...or it could be an egg that grew legs and is running across the road.

Back to the story...nosy girl - I was taping a piece down to the quilt top and up pops her head. 

First section ready for testing to see if the 2 hours of tracing the stippling pattern was worth it - and it almost was...

Last section -  Before "it" happened....

 Yep - I was holding the paper down - literally on the last stitch so it would not get caught in the hopping foot (again) and BAM - ripped right through the side of my finger. 

SUMBITCH Y'ALL

 OH crap - it would not stop bleeding - big rip on the side of my finger - thankfully I was NOT stitching on the speed setting because it would have kept going.  I was on regulated and when the machine stops moving, it stops sewing.

Dr Ray took care of it - Mom - this is gonna hurt....and did it ever...

Where the accident happened - see the little blue corner - I was just "tying" off the stitching when I obviously moved the machine faster than I moved my hand.  At least the paper didn't get caught in the hopping foot...

I'm an international snob now...

The quilt below is going to SWEDEN!!!  How cool is that.   A friend has a niece that lives there.  She is expecting a child in March so I spent the weekend getting the top cut and sewn together.    

Elizabeth really liked Rocky's quilt - the colors and the pattern of the squares so I stayed with the same colors as best I could.  It was storming to beat the band Saturday so I could not get down to A Scarlet Thread.  Went to Intown Quilters - A shop in Decatur - it was nice - not as big as AST but just as much beautiful things to choose from!!

Remember the class I took a couple of weekends ago on how to make a T-Shirt quilt - well - if I had gone thru my patterns, I would have found this!!  Oh well - at least I got some good advice on how to put them together once they were cut.  And I did pick up some nice Batiks while I was at AST...

Turn your  head - I rotated it but apparently, it didn't obey my command...

 For those of you that do not like the press-n-seal stuff from Glad, I have a new use for it.  Yep - sewing - I tested it out.  Put it over a pantograph and traced the lines...

 Once I traced the lines, I put it onto the quilt..sure enough - it stuck right to it.  I did try it on a small piece of fabric and sewed on it.  Took just a little tugging but it came right off, left no plastic behind....unlike that damn golden threads expensive worthless "sew thru me, I pull right off" paper I used on David's Chemo-flague quilt.  I picked that crap off for an hour but at least the humming birds got quilted into the top - ok - maybe some of them did sew out looking a little like ducks.

Someday, I'm going to be freaking rich once I figure out how to mass produce this idea....

 Somebody managed to get the squeaker out...when I found the ornament, it was flat and no stuffing left in it.  I washed it - yukky stinky slobber - and restuffed it.  I keep extra squeakers around the house for Bat Monkey.

 She's watching - closely watching - watching where I'm putting the squeaker...I see her calculating how long it will take her to find it and RIP it out again.

I swear she has one eye on me and one eye on the ball..freaky  I got it fixed but I anticipate another Bat-Monkey game - I sew it up - she rips it out - I sew it up again - she rips it out and so on and so on...

 Final label for Rocky's quilt.  I found some fabric transfer photo what-cha-ma-call-it and had a b/w photo of Rocky - what a great laid back face!!  I left the incorrect spelling of my name - seriously - I have no clue how that happened.  I'll blame it on becoming of age Sunday.  

 BeeBee wearing Rebeccas' witch hat.  Pretty cool photo huh??

This was Rebecca's hat when she was 3.  When you asked Rebecca what she wanted to be when she grew up, she'd say - a Witch at Halloween, at 4 she wanted to be truck-driving cheerleader and when she was 5 she wanted to be a Firetruck - yep the truck - not a firewoman...the truck is somewhere in the attic.

 Last but not least, my birthday present.  They are cherry blossom pink bobbins from Janome - I love 'em!!  

More on Bat Monkey - he was the cutest little thing...squeaked so nicely..until...she went for his throat and ripped his belly 

 I was concerned, could I save him this time??

I like to "pretend" she is bringing her wounded friend to me for repairs in this picture...

 Surgery is almost complete, she looks so concerned for her friend...please save him she says.  I love him

 Bat Monkey made it thru surgery, he has a big smile on his cute little face...

Not 5 minutes later... I love you Bat Monkey - you TASTE sooo good....gimme that squeaker, you know you want to and I know she put it back in there.  Poor Bat Monkey...

How in the HELL did that happen....

I am preparing the label to sew onto the quilt and what do I see....

Look really really close - I can't believe I did this and almost peed in my pants laughing.

This was one of those times I wish I could have seen my own face.

Thank goodness for Sharpies...

The quilt label has been finished!!!
This is varigated yellow, green and orange thread.  Why is there no Yellow and why I love sharpies...The yellow completely washed out so I took a green, yellow and orange sharpie and drew over the "invisible" letters.  
The label looks great, now off to sew it onto the quilt and schedule the delivery to MaryAnne!!

This is a chair in the Firefly restaurant where we ate lunch yesterday.  It is really pretty and yes, it is on my someday list to make this into a quilt - I actually have the templates or patterns to make all 12 circles!!  Just need to find the time because I'd sure like to know where in the world today got off to!!

Key-Mo has been Sold.....400 smack-a-rooneys!!

MaryAnne - Rocky's neighbor has purchased the Key-Mo quilt.  She has made a heartfelt offer of $400.  I am floored and very happy for Janice and Rocky!!

Now...once the label is decided up - it will be delivered - watch for photos of MaryAnne with Rocky and Key-Mo...

All that's missing is a graham cracker crust...

The quilt backing is all pinned and rolled.  

The top is ready - just need to measure and check to see how many pieces of the cotton batting I have stuffed in the box.  

Somebody almost got stepped on.  She likes to help me sew and will lay herself right down on my feet or on the corner of what I'm working on.  

Whew, had enough big pieces so I didn't have to open a package of 90x108 to cut out a 60x65 piece out of it!!  

Isn't this pretty!!  A girl at work made it for me.  I LOVE it!!  The colors and design on the paper are so me.

What is the graham cracker crust all about...This quilt screams Margarita and when I added the backing, it reminded me of a key lime pie!!!

Finished!! Didn't take a lot of time - this is only a lap quilt.

Binding being sewn on - the camera does not do justice to the pretty fabric but I took matching orange and green pieces and sewed them together.

Green section of the binding.

Backing, binding and top combined - it is really beautiful

Sneak peeks of the possible labels

I need a new camera!!  but - this is all three - top - binding and backing all sewn together.

Here it is!!  - I really like this fabric

This is a special quilt - Rocky - Tallulah's boyfriend, has been diagnoised with cancer - and this quilt is made for him and I call it Key-Mo - because it looks like a Key Lime Pie and what I think a Mojito would taste like.  I am selling it to help pay for his Chemo treatments.  The first $150 gets it but of course I will entertain offers.  It is for a good cause.  We love our Rocky Man....I also posted this on Rocky's facebook page.

A funny thing happened on the way to the machine...

A pieced border strip is sewn on backwards - oh well it is the selvage and won't ravel and it is 1/4 inch seam and barely noticeable.

Margarita anyone....

The top is sewn and the inside borders are done.

Looks like a tall cool Margarita!!  Only thing missing is a cabana boy to serve it and a beach to dig our toes in the sand.

I pinned the outside borders to the wall just before supper.  I like it better with the squares enclosed.  Keeps the shape of the design within the square.  I am not using a pattern - just saw a quilt square I liked and went from there.

Detail on the batik fabric and yes I am fully aware the squares are a touch off.   It's the joy of handmade - not computer cut and sewn ;-)

I had matching green and orange batiks so I put them together.  I really like they way it turned out.  Glad I didn't mix and match as originally planned.

I had just enough of the green batik.  This is ALL that is left of it.  The long piece was not even and I was able to cut just enough for the outside border.  I really like this color so guess where I may be headed when I start using the other springy colors...

The next step is the outside border.  The quilt currently measures 58 x 43 which is not quite big enough for me even though it is only going to be lap quilt.

So..This is a nice orangey color that brings out the orange in the green batiks.  

Tune in tomorrow - hopefully there will be enough of the fabric to do all four sides, if not I will enlarge the 43" side to 58.

OHHH - the mail just came.  My sweet 6 yards of sheer happiness was delivered!!  Oohhh what do I make next..