Why is the top row upside down you ask....

Where has the time gone!!  I got back from Nashville Sunday.  Spent most of Monday in my sewing room.  Stopped for a couple of hours to go on my walk and to head downtown so we could pick up some stain/sealant for our fabulous new deck....


I finally have the side rows for Ronnie's Roadies completed - slow process - measure (15 times) cut sashing to fit  - see what t-shirt is about the same size as the one next to it, repeat until I have the right length.   Chain stitching is a wonderful thing I have learned over the years.  I had forgotten how much time sashing took.  Now I can sew the sashing, cut them apart, iron the seam and trim the ends even.  Chain stitching really saves a lot of steps even though the blocks still have to be cut apart and trimmed, the sashing does not have to be individually cut for each block.  One thing I've had to be very careful with is some of the t-shirts are screen printed and the iron will take away some of the dye..ask me how I know...
I do spend a lot of time standing in front of the design wall, moving a t-shirt here and a t-shirt there.  It's like a puzzle and I love puzzles.  


My little helper finally showed up and yes, she is chewing on the edge of the teflon pressing sheet.  What a weird cat!!  She will chew on almost anything.

 This is the bottom row of the quilt - I have sewn the sashing to the tops, still have cut them apart and iron.  Then I will sew the pieces together until the row is completed.  Once I get all of the blocks sewn together in a row, I go back and trim them all even.  

These are the pieces that will make up the insides of the quilt.  My next challenge is to fit them all together to make rows so that when I sew them together, they will be all equal in size.   I will do this with different sized sashing.

                   
Why is the top row pinned upside down onto the design wall you ask?  When the quilt is put onto the bed, the names on the t-shirts can be read without turning your head upside down...looks confusing at first but when you picture the wall as a bed, it makes sense.




Tomorrow, my new toys will be here - I FINALLY stopped staring at my shopping cart on Sizzix (since NOVEMBER) and bought the quilting dies that make - what else - CIRCLES!!  I am SO in LOVE with those drunkard path quilts and the great designs that can be done with them.  The arch and the fan (what I call the pie and the crust) will fit my Big Shot.  They will only make a 4 inch block but that is ok - I think before I jump from the frying pan into the fire and pop for the Accuquilt Go - it will be nice to try out a smaller version - even if it is a different brand.  What - ME jump into the fire!!  Surely you don't think I'd ever do something like that!!  So...With the acrylic templates I already have - once my new toys arrive, I will have the means to make a 3 inch, 4 inch, 7 inch AND an 8 inch circle quilt.  WHEW...not to mention that I also bought Hello Kitty (for my youngest niece's quilt), mittens, a couple of really cool flower thingys and what else a SNOWFLAKE!!  I am determined to make myself bed sized snowflake quilt like I did a couple of years ago.  Oh - I also bought a dog - that looks just like Tallulah....
Double Whew....did I mention that I volunteered to make a Magnolia quilt to be raffled this summer...the pattern should be here anyday.  Oh Wait...there's more - Triple WHEW...I finished quilt tops for two of my nieces (I think I have around 15 nieces - hard to keep up with - it gives me a headache trying to count them all)  I  need to get them quilted and in the mail.  They are a surprise so thankfully not on any schedule to complete.


Ya know, a lot of people would consider this work, but I just LOVE it.  It is so MUCH FUN!!

On a dark and stormy Saturday...

I love stormy days - they are the best days ever.  They comfort me but also makes me sad because I miss my sister Sandra - she loved bad weather too and was a Weather Channel junkie.  She would call me from 400 miles away and let me know I needed to duck and run - there was a storm headed my way.  So...every day it storms I think of her and wish the phone would ring.  

I like the stormy days I spend in my sewing room - I sew a while and look out the window for a while.  

Today, I finished trimming the t-shirts and got them sorted by size.  

I think I have figured out how the place them.  I got out my trusty measuring tape and a bright pink sharpie.  I measured 110 inches down the wall (or across??)  and drew a line.  That is the top and bottom of the quilt.  Floor to ceiling is only 88 or so inches - numbers are small, could not see them ;-)

Sorry the photo is blurry but I had to stand on a swivel chair to get the full wall in the shot. 

It took a while but I got the blocks onto the wall - I'm sure some of them will be moved but at least now I have an idea.  I will need to use sashing.  I've decided to use black - it is the one color all of the blocks have in them.  Using multiple colors will make my head swim even more than it does now so one color is easier to work with.  Of course, that will mean the thread will most likely have to be black.  Probably will go with the gray, black and white varigated thread like I used on David's chemo-flauge quilt.  I think I have some of it left.  

I am going to turn all of the blocks a half turn counter clockwise to get them them going in the right direction and then comes the hard part - MATH!!  I need to figure out how to balance the sashing to make the different sizes of the blocks fit smoothly together.

 This is the center piece of the quilt - the only two blocks I have put together so far.  

I do have my next quilt planned - ok well - I'm always planning because there are SO many I want to make.  I have finally found a quilt that I can use the petal shapes that are left over when I cut out my circle quilts.  Isn't this pretty! 

Well - maybe after this one, I can make the Dahlia quilt...AGH - sew much fabric and not enough time...

Key-Mo Hugs and Kisses

Rocky had a rough night last night and still a little under the weather today.  He is all curled up taking a nap on his Key-Mo quilt - I sewed up a lot of hugs and Tallulah sneaked some kisses in the stitches - just hope our baby is feeling better soon.  No one should have to go thru that awful chemo - it hurts our fur kids just as bad as it hurts our skin friends and families.

Whew...finally stage one is complete - all of the t-shirts are cut out.  I had a time getting the stablizer cutt off of the hummingbird shirt.  That was some strong stuff!  I almost clipped a wing or two trying to get around them.  Had to cut it off so the t-shirt would adhere properly.

Stage two is complete - the fusible fabric is ironed onto all of the t-shirts.  I've got about 1/4 yard of the 15 yard bolt left!!
 Here they are, fusible fabric all ironed on and ready to be trimmed into quilt blocks!!

 Stage four in progress - cutting them out and sticking them up on the design wall as I go - will move them around after I get them all up there.  I am SO lucky to have a full wall available as a design wall - it is completely covered in flannel backed table cloths!!

This is the focal point of the quilt I am now calling Ronnie's Roadie...Rick's square is on top - Cheryl's is on the bottom but I probably put them side by side.

Tune in next time and hopefully, the t-shirts will all be trimmed into quilt blocks and I'll be moving them here and there.  I'm good at moving things - anytime something gets lost around the house it is because I moved it. 


Can't rememeber if I posted the other pink and brown quilt top so here they both are - just need to get them rolled onto the frame and quilted.  
This is the first one.

This is the other one - I am going to take the borders off and reverse them.  The lighter color will be a nice break between the bolder colors.  Maybe this weekend I'll have time - it is going to RAIN all weekend - but I love the rain and gloomy days are my favorite so if anyone needs me - follow the hum of the machine.
Ohhhh - I just realized this quilt top could pass for hidden MINNIES....I need a Disney fix...

Ronnie's Roadies...

This is the other pink brown and white quilt top I've finished - I like how it turned out but may switch the borders before I quilt it - not sure I like how they turned out - I think the light pink would look better as the first border, then the pink hearts as the outside border and I could use a solid brown or pink for the binding - thoughts anyone??

My new project - a T-Shirt quilt - KING SIZE!!  A challenge for sure - I finally got them all cut out and I'm in the middle of ironing them to the fusible fabric that will prevent them from stretching - a few have been a challenge because they were the thinner material but once I got them ironed to the fusible, they were ok.

 First t-shirt getting cut - could not bear cut the shirts up to bits and pieces so I slipped my smaller cutting mat inside so I would only cut out what I needed from the shirt.  The other parts and pieces can be donated as scraps for rugs and having them in bigger scraps will make them easier to handle.

Ronnie's Roadies - I LOVE this shirt and was very careful cutting it because it is so AWESOME!!  Rick was assigned to Marine One at the White House in his USMC days - how COOL is that!!  I am going to try and make it the center piece of the quilt AND I have just the right sashing fabric strips for it.

 This is the fusible fabric I'm using - bought an unopened bolt - $75 (thank goodness for 50% off coupons!!) 15 yards total - so far, it looks like it is going to be enough

     

Getting the pieces cut and ready.         

All cut, sorted by size and ready to start fusing!

This is what they look like after I have ironed them to the fusible fabric.  Once I get them all done - I will go back and cut them apart, iron again to be sure they are attached and then start figuring out which one goes where.  I may not need sashing fabric for all of them.  We'll see.

   

 Another view of them all ironed together - I finally quit for the night - tired and have been on my feet most of the day. 

My baby is tired too - she is giving me that droppy eyed look.  It is tiring to watch me work...

The one mishap - I don't know whether to laugh or to cry...

This is the teflon sheet I use to keep the fusible from sticking to both the iron and the ironing board cover.  I was VERY careful (well I though) NOT to go anywhere near it with the scissors because....well you see why!!  I was ironing 2-4 t-shirts at a time and would cut them off as I went.  These dang things are expensive ($18!!) and I kept telling myself - be careful when you cut off ironed on shirts - be careful when you cut off ironed shirts. just damn...crap crap crap.  I got out the good old gift wrapping tape and put it back together - so far so good.  I'm still mad at myself though.

              

This is my new *someday* project.  I returned the winding ways and  kalidescope templates and book and got this.  It looks complicated but I think I can do it.  

        

Of course, for a small fee, they sell a companion template to help make the center and outer edges easier.  I am such a sucker for new templates - I should buy stock in all companies that make acrylic!!  Oh well - this designer is local - her kids went to our neighborhood schools and they are still only a few miles away in Chamblee and her stuff is all made in the USA!!  On a side note, the creator of this template wrote the book that I made my first *patterned* quilt from! 

And....wait there is more....they just happen to sell the stencil that has the quilting pattern so now....I can use my quilt pounce!

Hopefully I will get around to making the Dahlia this spring but.....I got an e-mail from the Mississippi Society of Georgia today.  I have so enjoyed volunteering this last couple of years that I was invited to join the planning committee.  Our meetings are starting for the yearly picnic and guess what I am going to do..yep...make a Mississippi Magnolia quilt to raffle  off! I am SO excited.  Guess I'd better get crackin' and find a pattern.  I'm planning to make the flower part applique.  Hopefully I will find just the right batik.  Whew!!  I need to retire so I can sew up all of this fabulous fabric I have.  But alas, I'd not have any money to buy new acrylic templates....

Still need to make Quilt Diva, the Red Door and Wicked...

I'm a cobbler - just like papaw...

My papaw was a train engineer in his younger days - well until he got half his foot cut off - always told us grandma chopped it off with an ax - we swore we could see his toes all wrapped  up in that stump he had at the end of his leg but hey - we were very gullible kids!!  He really got it caught between two rail cars and his train engineer days were over.  What I remember him as was a cobbler.  To this day, his tools and machines - yes sewing machines and all of those cool tools that make and repair shoes are all sitting in his shoeshop in Vicksburg Mississippi where my uncle took over the business years and  years ago.  Why am I going on and on about this??  Ray brought me his shoe and said Mom, can you sew this up?  I just love how kids know Moms can fix anything.  I looked it over and decided it was an easy task.  I got out my skinny sharp needle, threaded it and sewed his shoe right back together.   Other than the color of the thread  - I used black, it looks brand new!!  No Hakky visit for us today.  But I will admit I like going into Hakky's because it smells like my grandpa's shop.   

My new nameless quilt is on the design wall.  This layout didn't work for me.  I thought it looked a little weird and Janice thought it looked like sperm swimming around an egg and yep that's what I was thinking so it had to go.  Kinda looks like turds too.  Pink turds, but turds none the less.  I like that word turds, makes me laugh.  

I tried to turn the center circle to the outside but still didn't like it.   

I took all of the pieces off the wall and started over.

This one looks like MS PACMAN.  Was not really sure about it so...

I folded the squares in half and laid them out.  Came up with this which I liked so I drew a line down the middle and sewed them together then cut them apart.

This is what it looks like now and how it will go together.  I may put sashing between the rows.  Of course it was not to be that I could get 4 polka dots in each circle - besides liking paisley, I really like polka dots.

  Close up shot - I think I like the MS PACMAN better but it's too late...

 I had enough scraps left over to make 48 additional squares.  I will make this one into MS PACMAN...  The heart fabric in the background will be the sashing and borders.  

It is late and I must get some rest.  Getting some work done on the house tomorrow.  The deck gets ripped off the house Monday morning so the new one can go on and I told them the only thing that will be attached to it was the house..well..right now, there is a fence, lights/electrical wires AND a gas grill is still bolted to it along with the gas line so...gotta get up early and start getting everything taken off.  Well - I get to supervise, I'm not and electrician nor a plumber.

Time to say Good-Bye and Hello...

Found the thread...after I finished the quilt - oh well - the other thread was fabulous too!!

Last stitch - binding finished - almost time to say goodbye to another  project and send it off to make someone smile and maybe cry a little - I know I cried...for different reasons, but I cried... 

Washed and ready to pack - looks great in the sunshine

 Ohh - details on the quilting - drawing out the stippling WAS worth the time it took.  

Hello new project - cut, squares sewn and ready to start placing on the design wall.

An option I'm thinking about...the squares are folded in half.

 Both options I am looking at - don't really have enough to do what I wanted so...I cut 48 more squares - going to sew them together tomorrow.  Not all the same pattern as the original fabric but gee - I opened a basket and WA-LAA, there was pink and brown material - with my fav...PAISLEY!!