Le Petite Project: Mon Ami & CW block 5

Here is my Le Petite Project for this month "Mon Ami" Schnibble pattern.  The charm squares are "Nantucket" by Minik & Simpson for Moda. 

 I decided not to add the plain border because I like this finished size for a wallhanging. 

If I get this quilted, I'll be all set for the 4th of July this summer.    

 Not much else done on the sewing front this weekend.  I didn't feel well so I saw the sofa more than the sewing machine.  I did make the Civil War block for this week called "Kansas Troubles" 
Hopefully I'll have a less busy week this week and I'll get caught up on some things. 

Have you any wool?

This past weekend, I was digging in my fabric lair dungeon  avalanche  space and the old nursery rhyme "Baa baa black sheep, Have you any wool?" came to mind.

I updated the next lyrics to say:
"Yes, ma'am I do
 One bulging box full!"

My first inclination was to save it....
because....

you know....

they may never make any more again....

and then...

what if I needed some later????

But I really need to get o-v-e-r this kind of thinking because I am not going to end up on "Hoarders"!
Let's say this again--I am not going to end up on "Hoarders."

So yes, I cut up some of that wool. And then I found this little bundle of Fig Tree joy
from....

oh several lines ago....

maybe one of the first..... (ok I checked and it is one of Joanna's first lines from 2005)

why am I saving this?

Because it's so cutely wrapped up in a little bundle and it's Fig Tree and I may have had a certain project in mind at some point????
Probably.

OK let's be ruthless and use both the wool and untie and use this Fig Tree goodness.

Oh my. That's a lot for one afternoon.

But I did it.

And voila!  Here is block #1 of Bunny Hill's block of the month.


There, that was painless wasn't it?

January Blahs

Oh I haven't posted in awhile.  Last week was just one of those annoying hectic weeks at work filled with a million aggravating things and this weekend I seemed to have a case of the January blahs.  I don't know about you, but I always get blah in the winter, even in the South where there is more sunlight. After all the excitement with Snowmaggedon, it seemed last week that it had been January forever...at least 2 Januarys long.

So while January blahs do not make for good company (gray, cold, wet, wool blankets come to mind), I was productive over the weekend, keeping to myself and my sewing machine.

 I finished up block 3 for the Civil War Quilts Block of the Week.  My needleturn applique skills were a little rusty so the stars are kind of wonky.  This block is called Seven Sisters.

Let's just say it has a Folk Art element instead of crisp pointy points shall we?

 This is block 4 called Texas Tears. I am having so much fun with this block of the week project.  Every Saturday I grab my big box of Civil War reproduction fabrics and dig through, cutting little bits of this and little bits of that.


I bet I have eleventy-million weeks worth of Civil War fabrics in there if I keep using bits and pieces.

I also realized I better get cracking on my January UFO project for Judy's challenge or else!  I definitely don't want to fail on the challenge the first month so I put aside my Roll Roll Cotton Boll quilt and worked on blocks for my Clara Barton quilt. 

One of my favorites is this block with the purple and cream fabric.

0.807954 miles of thread...and more to go

Well I've used up one spool of Aurifil thread (1422 yards or 0.807954 miles of thread) and am working on the second for the Roll Roll Cotton Boll quilt.  I am working like crazy on this quilt and am still piecing blocks. I have no idea how some bloggy friends (Michelle, Karin & Kristie) have already finished their tops.

the never-ending quilt project

I'm also slowly getting back into the swing of things from Atlanta's 10-day weekend otherwise known as Snow-pocalypse. There are just a few patchy snow spots left after all that drama.  It was very strange going to work on Tuesday (Monday was MLK, Jr., holiday). It was weird being out of the house and in real clothes instead of sweats/pjs.  It was weird being around people or as my boss asked "did everyone lose whatever social skills they had?" LOL!  Tuesday was a very looooooong day (what no movies, snacks, quilting, catnaps, cats?????).  An amazing amount of work piled up while everyone was stuck at home (how does that happen?).  I'm not sure if the cats were happy about getting back to their usual schedule or if they missed having their people around all day. 

Snow-pocalypse Days 3-5

Greetings from Hoth-lanta!  Yes this is Day 5 of most of the metro area being under ice.  You need a Tauntaun to get around this city.

I don't have a Tauntaun so I've been at home all week.






Why can't people in Atlanta get out of their house when it snows? 

This photo says it all!

Not to mention we had freezing rain on top of the 4-6" inches of snow around the city.

The ice is the worst because we don't have enough sand, salt, or gravel to spread on all interstates let alone the major streets and secondary roads.  Small streets, subdivisions, and everyone else are on their own. Seriously, I saw a postal worker sprinkling salt from her truck yesterday.  It appeared to be coarse salt that one would use for cooking.  Poor Atlanta....

"creme brulee snow" an icy crust on top of snow

In case we needed to get out sometime. I went out yesterday to shovel the driveway....







with my garden shovel

For future reference, garden shovels are not every snow-efficient. 

The sun shining on the ice

 What else was going on these past few days?  Very little.  I read a Stephen King book, Full Dark No Stars (a really great book to read on cold winter nights and one of his better books of late in my opinion.)

We watched a lot of local news, always entertaining to see 15 mile backups on closed interstates, cars sliding around on ice, and reports of empty grocery store shelves.

I worked on work stuff from home.



I worked on the endless Roll Roll Cotton Boll quilt.

The cats stayed warm by sleeping on heat vents. 


 





I wished I had some sled dogs.

I just have erstwhile sled cats....

Instead of sleeping curled up in the snow like sled dogs, "sled cats" sleep curled up in quilts. Go figure...

Snow-pocalypse Day 2 (1-11-11)

Another day of Atlanta being shut down because of snow and ice.  We still have lots of snow (maybe 2-3 inches left after this afternoon), and the roads around my house have about 2 inches of icy slush that is now turning to all ice.  Everything is closed again for tomorrow.  I bet all the school children are loving it. 

I went out to sweep off my truck and the back steps.  About 5 inches of snow, yes, with a broom!  Who knew I would need a snow shovel in Georgia???!!??  I better get one next time I am in Michigan!  Because of the freezing rain and sleet the snow had a thin layer of ice on top and walking through my yard made me think of creme brulee. 

Nothing much else is going on.  I did lots of sewing and hopefully will have something to show tomorrow. I think we are disrupting the cats' schedule and they are wishing that we would just go to work already lol!

Snow-pocalypse 1-10-11

A big time snow event in metro Atlanta extended my weekend an extra day and possibly for tomorrow also. It started snowing huge flakes last night about 8:30PM and it just kept coming down like...well...like it does in the North.

I recorded the official snowfall on my back steps this morning.

About 4 1/2" on the top step.

 Bird tracks on my front porch.  I love seeing bird and animal prints in the snow.  I bet the birds were wondering what in the world was going on.  My birdseed and suet feeders were jam-packed all day and lots of birds hung out on the porch in the shelter.

Edgar Poe had a great time today watching all the bird and squirrel activity while he stayed warm in a quilt nest on the bed.  Poe-TV is what we call it.

 It was sleeting when I took this photo.  So now there is a fine crust of ice on top of the snow and the roads are thick slushy ice. 

I'm definitely not going any where.

 No way I'm attempting my front steps!

 No coffee on the porch this AM. 

I'm headed back inside for some sewing and movie watching time.

 I worked on my penultimate Groove Girls project.  Melisa said February is our last meeting until the new session starts after spring quilt market.  I am so happy that there is going to be another session because this has been a super fun club!

This month our project was a sewing roll to keep our handwork supplies organized. I carefully centered the little pink owl to be on the flap.

The outside

The inside with pockets and a zipper pocket

Well OK the little pink owl kinda worked out by mostly luck and a little centering by me :)

North Star

The second block in the Civil War block of the week.

 I didn't get as much sewing done this weekend as I wanted to but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the big snowstorm headed for Atlanta is enough to cancel work for a day...

...2 days would be better as long as the electricity stays on!

I need to get busy on RRCB again since I have RRCB envy from all the finished or near-finished quilts I see on the internet. Check out Michelle's here.
It is STUNNING, Michelle!  Great colors and fabrics.

My buddy Karin is rolling right along on her quilt too.  Love those bright colors.

I'm still working on Mon Ami.  Here's a sneak peek at the center. 

It has been a sad weekend for our country and my heart and thoughts go out to the victims and their families in Arizona.

Squirrel!

Have you seen the movie "Up"?  Such as sweet movie and Dug the dog cracked me up. It is definitely a must-see movie for anyone of all ages.  If you haven't seen the movie, Dug has a "translation collar" so humans can understand dog barks.  In the movie, Dug is talking and all of a sudden he will get distracted and say "Squirrel!" and look off screen. It has become a joke in our house whenever someone (me) is talking and someone else (S.) is distracted or not listening and I'll say "Squirrel!" 

Well along with all my other quilting plans and goals for 2011, all of a sudden Anne of Bunny Hill Designs pops up in my email inbox with another great Block of the Month!
Squirrel! 

It really is a squirrel and a super cute one at that (and you were wondering where this post was going ;).  I *may* have to start this BOM also.  I have a stash of wool for the applique and I'm sure I can find some comparable fabric around here somewheres.

I have Anne's previous two years of BOMs printed out and saved although not started yet.  At least I'll print this one out every month too. This one is only 10 months long...
Squirrel!!!!

Snapshot: Monday, January 3rd, 2010

Gomez sleeping on heat vent with his new Xmas toy

Here's what is happening at my house right now.  (This photo of Gomez is especially for karendianne!)

Le Petite in progress

Morph says "hey! enough with the photos you woke me up!"

Edgar Poe sleeping under the couch in front of the heat vent

Stella Bella sleeping on a flannel quilt

S. working on lectures on the opposite end of the dining room table/sewing space/office

Sewing Like Mad Sunday

Very busy sewing day today!  The morning started with working on the Civil War quilt. Block one is done. 




I finally finally finally finished sewing 60 string blocks for Bonnie Hunter's Roll Roll Cotton Boll (RRCB) mystery quilt. Whew!  I am so happy to be done with these!!!!  I did use up a ton of random neutral scraps that more than likely would have moldered in shoe boxes or be tossed out in a cleaning fit but I was determined to finish these up today because it made such a mess.  Bits and pieces of fabric everywhere, bits of pieces of paper everywhere, threads and threads and threads everywhere.  Bleh! Now everything is tidied up and vacuumed and just better.

I still have 90,000 half-square triangles to finish piecing. Well really around 300 or less. I hope it's less.

I decided to work a little ahead and make the 30 center blocks just to give me an incentive not to give up on this marathon quilt.  I adore these centers.  Just adore them.   


Not to be forgotten is the le petite project for this month "Mon Ami" Schnibble.  I dug out an older Minick & Simpson line "Nantucket" and am going to work on this tomorrow.

Oh yes tomorrow is a holiday for me.  Why January 3rd?  Well originally state workers were to have Dec. 31st off but then someone discovered that we were given too many holidays for 2010.  And because the world as we know it would end people if GA state workers had one more holiday in 2010, they moved it to Jan. 3rd.  I took Dec. 31st off as annual leave just for spite and to have a four-day weekend.

So yes tomorrow is another sewing day. Perhaps another pj day too (I promise they are clean pjs. Really we do have some standards around here).

1-1-11

Happy New Year everyone!!  It is raining here in the ATL but that is fine because I'm staying in my pjs and sewing all day.  I hope you all are doing the same. 

Yesterday, I dragged took S. with me to Sweet Home Quilt Co. for the last day of Melisa's end of the year sale.  We walked in the front door and saw lots of friends with big bags of goodies and stacks of fabric waiting in line.  How fun!  Becky, Kristie, and Brenda were there as well as Jane, Sharon H., Sharon B-A. Needless to say, we stayed longer than the "real quick" time I had given S. LOL!  I signed up for a block of the month and bought a few yards of this n that.

Last night was quiet and I fell asleep before midnight for the first time in decades.  Oh no! I guess being wrapped in quilts, watching movies, and Prosecco will do that. I think it was around 11 or 11:30 oh well.

Today I am all excited because Judy at Patchwork Times posted the number for the 2011 UFO challenge (#6) which is my Clara Barton quilt.  I had to search my own blog to find out the last time I worked on this LOL! It was in  June. Here is the photo from June of some of the blocks.  Time to dig this project out.

Another exciting (well for quilters anyway--the term exciting is relative ya know) happening today is the announcement that Barbara Brackman is posting a block of the week commemorating the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War on her new blog.  She is posting history, historical photos, and a block each week.  I hope some of you will join me in making this quilt!  Or at least follow along to enjoy the stories and photos.  I'm a big fan of hers because of her dedication to researching quilt and social history.  Besides sesquicentennial is just fun to say.

And thirdly, I am excited because Bonnie Hunter posted Step 7 yesterday of her RRCB mystery and I LOVE this quilt!  It is worth all the gazillion of little pieces.  I started putting some blocks together (even thought I haven't completed all the previous steps) and will post some photos soon.   

OK I'm excited, at least for today right now 1-1-11 (that's fun to type), and I'm headed to the sewing machine.