Saturday, March 31, 2012

March going out like a lion

Yep, March is going out like a lion. Today being the last day of March, we have been blessed with some rather blustery rain deluges. No, they were not showers!  We could barely see across our backyard. Weather today is supposed to be rainy and windy. Well, so far that's what it's been. In looking at the weather radar map for our area, it looks like it will continue.

While March may be going out like a lion, spring is in evidence in our backyard. The apple tree is in bloom, although with this weather I doubt the bees will be doing their normal pollination flights. And the tulips are almost ready to start blooming. So, that said, I'll just watch the rain and the wind.

And that makes it a perfect day to stay inside and quilt. So, I'm going to do just that. I have 4 small quilts sandwiched and ready to do the quilting on. I hope to get at least 2 of them done so I have something to turn in from my UFO list. Once they've been turned in as a completed UFO, then I can show them during Show & Tell. If I can get 3 of them done, I'll be halfway through my UFO list. As long as I get one done, I'll be happy.

Meantime, the day will be spend with doing laundry, paying bills (Yuk!) and doing the other stuff that one has to do to keep the house prosperous.

Till next time!

Sunday, March 25, 2012

March and Spring

March is a month of many weather surprises. Sometimes it's wet and nasty, sometimes dry & windy. It also heralds in Spring. Here it seems that spring will be a little bit late. We've had rain most of the weekend and the weather people are predicting more of the same for this next week.

March also brings us daylight savings time. While I like the longer amounts of daylight in the evening, I can't say that we are really saving time. What knothead came up with that? Who knows, but we certainly can't save any of it for later.

I've been working on a project for our local theater. Seems they are doing "The Wizard of Oz" as a stage production and they needed poppy fields and snow fields. Enter the fabric - one piece of the most gorgeous scarlet poppies and one piece of (snow) white fabric - stitched together to make the fields. Sounds a bit crazy, but when you realize that some small person will be holding these fabric "sandwiches", it will work. I got them all done and back to the theater for the rehearsal that started at 6:30pm tonight. Considering I got them on Tuesday, I figure I did well. Now I just have to be able to find a night to go see it!

I've also been working on my UFO list and have made it to the spot where half way is in sight. I sandwiched another two small quilts today from that list and hope to get them finished before our next quilt guild meeting. I am determined to finish my list this time around. I got done the guild $2 block of the month as well today. All in all it's been a very productive weekend.

On to other things, another post, another time. Meantime, take care of yourselves.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

More quilts done

Yes, I'm getting more of my UFO listing done. For the second month in a row, I have finished 3 of them. While I'm not winning any prizes for this, I am feeling like I'm getting things done.

This one is called "Birds out My Window" and is one that has been hanging around since 2007 when I started it in Grass Valley at Pine Tree Quilt Guild Show. I'm really glad to get it done as it was one of my older UFOs. It was a free little lesson in how to do the black grill work. I forget what it's called, but since the lesson and the fabric to make the top were free, my friend and I signed up. Haven't seen anything like that at their show since.

This second one is called "Yellow Rose of Texas" and was a free pattern on the Whimsys web page. I have a small group that I get together with once a year to work on our projects. We usually attempt to try one new quilting method per year and try to get at least one project out of our stash either started or done. I worked on this project, but didn't quite get it done. I started a Halloween quilt that I've been collecting fabrics for and got the top mostly made. Still have a couple things left to do on it before I can sandwich it. When it's done, I'll post a picture of it here.

This little quilt is a Patch Ability pattern called "Park It, Wanda". I bought it as a kit, something I rarely do, and finally got it finished. It's small, 6" x 18", but I really love it. Course, I really like the pattern company which is a good thing since I probably own about 45-50 of their patterns.

I'm working on getting more of my quilts done so you will see more of them as I finish. I signed up to complete 18 for this UFO Challenge in 2012. I intend to finish them all plus maybe a few more. Our guild as a whole has 34 people signed up to finish 665 quilts. I certainly hope we can make a big dent in that number.

Till next time - have a good day and enjoy!