What's on my Design Wall.........and Sharie's News

The pineapple quilt is still on my design board, but I am making progress, slow but sure. The embroidery blocks - I love them. I posted a picture of this quilt probably a month or two ago. The blocks were templates. I did not like how they were coming out. I had bought a kit so it just could not be wasted or put on a shelf and it never get done. Kits cost too much money. I rarely buy them but this particular one was really special. As, I was saying, I didn't like the templates or the results I was getting. So, I thought and I thought and I thought what would happen if I didn't use the templates and made everything one color. This is what I got. I have lots of blocks to go. I really like the results. [Pina Coladas Under the Flowering Trees]

The background color is more like the bottom picture. It is champagne. The top two pictures the flash of the camera washed out the color. Click on the picture for a better view.

Sharie's News......................

We had a great Christmas. We had five guests. A good time was had by all with lots to eat and lots of chatter going on.

The weather is chilly this morning. It is only 39 degrees and the wind is cold. Jim and I were up early this morning and on the road before 7:00. He had an appointment with his endocrinologist. For those who don't know he has Addison's disease. It felt like Iowa out there. If it had been raining we would have had snow. The wind feels like it is coming off the northpole.

Yesterday, Vic, came over for dinner. I made Cheesy Ham and Scalloped Potatoes out of the leftover ham. I have friends living in Idaho. When they visit they bring us a huge box of Idaho potatoes. It is time for another visit, I am almost out of potatoes. For Christmas they sent me a jar of Wild Crab Apple Jelly and a jar of Wild Crab Apple Jam. I just know they are going to be yummy.

This week I start "stash-busting." I am always saying that I must use up this fabric that I have packed away. I did do some cleaning out and have a couple of bags of fabric that I am donating to a friend. She does a lot of charity quilts and she will put it to good use. My "stash-busting" report will be on my blog. It will be of interest to quilters, others probably not.

I have been making a few changes to my blog this week and I am going to change out some of the pictures and etc. Check it out.

Since we don't have any good fairies around here, I guess I must get busy, I am sure there is probably something that needs dusting.

Hope all is well on your end. Sharie

I went shopping................

Yesterday, I went shopping and to lunch with a friend. We had a great time going here and there. In one of the shops I found this little tree. It is a music box, plays several songs, turns in circles and the lights light up and blink. I wish it would play longer. It is one of those that you push a button and it plays rather than winding it up. So cute, I could not resist.

And the rooster, isn't he adorable. I have roosters in my kitchen but they can't be just any rooster, they have to be special.

What's on My Design Wall..................

This is Pina Coladas under the Flowering Trees. I have already redesigned this quilt. I am trying to keep it from being boring. I wanted a brown quilt but I don't want it to be drab. I am depending on the borders to help out with this. I think they will "drag" the color out of the middle. We will see. I still have a lot of blocks to make at 37 pieces to a block, they take awhile to make. Click on the picture for a better view.

Merry Christmas from A to Z...Warmest wishes to you from me........

Christmas is just around the corner, and I have oodles to do. I still have shopping, quilting and life to take up my time.

This quilt, I made a few years ago. It is a panel and I added 7 borders to it and did the embroidery. I also did the quilting with gold thread. It glistens in the light. The little snow people sing. They are just too cute.

It is a dreary day today, 53 degrees. I am ready for sunny weather. We had a little snow on Friday. That is rather unusual.

Click on the picture to get a better view.

Hope all is well on your end.

Dustin and Hannah Cole Wedding 5 Dec 2009

The Quilting Chicks in the Photo-Booth

Sharie, Jim, and Victor

Dustin and Hannah Cole Wedding - 5 Dec 2009

78 Flavors of Batiks...............

It is done. I finished the binding last night. I need to put an envelope on the back so I can hang it and take a better picture. The quilt has 78 different batiks on the front. The back is also pieced. I have a pattern for this quilt and will put it on my blog possibly today. Sharie's News....... We had a nice Thanksgiving, spending it with friends and Vic. Now we look forward to Christmas. Do I decorate or don't I decorate. I hate to dig out all that "stuff." Vic comes and gets it out of the attic and he puts up the 2 trees and puts on lights where they are needed and puts the garland on and decorates the tops. It takes me about 3 days to get the house decorated and then it takes me that long to get it back to what it was. I love it once it is up. Everything looks so cheery and it gives a nice change to the house. Decisions, decisions.......... I have until next weekend to make up my mind. That's when Vic will drag all of it out of the attic. Hey, it is 76 degrees outside. I just noticed. I should be outside. The wind is blowing a bit. The leaves are really falling off the trees. For a better view, click on the pictures. Hope all is well on your end. Sharie

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Hope you all have a wonderful time Thanksgiving. We will be spending the day with friends, Charles and Evelyn. Victor will be there too. Charles and Evelyn's children, and their children and I am sure a few other people will drop in. The food is always wonderful. The traditions are a little different here in the south then in the north (that is where my family is (all but Vic, he has moved here). I think Vic and I are the only ones in the entire family living south of the Mason Dixon line. My favorite is carrot souffle. I have made a 7 layer dip, mexican style, and a Watergate salad. I am in charge of dinner rolls. I have it easy this year. It looks like it is going to be a super day. The temps are suppose to be 65 as a high and no rain. It is hard to beat that. Today we really have a lovely day. The sky is a beautiful blue, a little breeze and it is 66 degrees. Again, I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. Sharie

What's on my Design Wall..............

Top: A Pineapple with bird and flower blocks. I am going to name this quilt Pina Coladas under the Flowering Trees. I have been wanting to make a brown quilt. Actually both of these quilts have brown backgrounds. I'm under a deadline (I hate that) for the pineapple quilt. My intentions are to enter it into the Beaumont, TX quilt show.

Lower: I have finished the blocks for this quilt. There are actually 7 rows of blocks, you just can't see them. I am anxious to get this quilt finished. I am afraid it must go on the back burner since the other must be completely finished by February and I am already behind. Click on the pictures for a better view.

Brain-Storm

Last night, Tuesday, I really didn't feel like sewing, and I hate tv. Jim watches nothing but cops, robbers, blow-em-up shows, forensics and the like programs. So I sat down in my office at my trusty little computer, opened up my EQ6 software and I played. What is EQ6? For non-quilters, it is software to make quilts. It is so fun. Being a former draftsman, I have great fun with it. I can create so many quilts and probably will never make as many as I create. Anyway the above is what I did.

It takes some studying. There are several different patterns involved. I think I will make this one but it will be down the road a piece, I already have too many irons in the fire.

Weather today is wonderful. 68 degrees at 3:00 p.m. A quilting friend came today and we walked our circle (I live on a circle). It is a mile around. I am doing it for my cholestrol, but so far I have had an added benefit, my hip is better. Earlier this week we had another walker with us. She is visiting her mom who lives on the circle also. She is down from Missouri and a quilter, so guess what we talked about.

Hope all is well on your end.

Sharie

We Give Thee Thanks............

Down with Halloween and up with Thanksgiving. I made this quilt a few years ago. I designed the squares. The Thanksgiving blocks came as a panel. I chopped them up, put a few things together and this is what I ended up with.

Teapot Quilt and Sharie's News............

You are going to have to click on the pictures to see this quilt up close. The quilt is so nice and bright. I machine embroidered all of the teapots and chose the colors for the teapots by the color of the fabric. This is only the top. I am working on a pieced back, need to make a label and then have it quilted.

Outside of quilting things have not changed much. The weather is nice. We are having warmer nights then we had in October. It is 8:30 p.m. and it is 69 degrees. The days have been in the 70's. I expect all of that to change soon. After all, it is winter even in the south.

I am starting to Christmas shop. It is hard to believe that it is that time of year. In three weeks, I will be putting up decorations. Thankfully Victor is a big help. I could never do all of that without him.

We are going to old friends for Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving in the south. They have their traditional things just as we do in the north. I am looking forward to carrot souffle. It is so good.

Hope all is well ..........

Sharie

After the Storm...........Sunset

Isn't this pretty???? After the storm............it rained and rained all day. Very gloomy day. We have had a wet October. I believe that it is unusual for October to be wet and should be dry with beautiful fall temperatures. The weather forcast is for it to be dry the next 7 days. I actually don't mind the rain. After living in southern California for many years, where the norm is 6 inches of rain a year, I really do enjoy watching it. The only thing that I don't like is the thunder and lightening that usually goes with it. In California it was rare to have thunder and lightening.

My brother, Bill lives just north of Denver. The last I heard he had 18 inches of snow.

Hope all is well on your end. Sharie

Bonnie Lou Krumm Wyatt-Meis

Bonni Lou Krumm b. 1 Feb 1931 Cedar Rapids, Linn Co., IA d.24 Oct 2009 Cedar Rapids, Linn Co., IA Daughter of Fredrick N. Krumm and Viola I. Blessing Krumm m. 1st. Robert Wayatt Aug 1949 m. 2nd. Herman "Ben" Meis 1 Jan. 1990 Cedar Rapids, IA d. 31 Mar 2006 Children: Scott, Robin, Kim, Peter, Tom, Barbara, Matt and Jeffery Siblings: Betsy, Beverly, Fred, and Don Viola was the daughter of Alice Dyson Blessing Roosa/Rose Alice was the sister of Delila Dyson Crago Hronik (listed in the genealogy at the end of the blog).

Sharie's News...................

It is FALL ................. the trees tell us so...............

We don't have many signs of fall, but some of our trees, their leaves are changing colors and dropping. Most of the time the leaves just change to an ugly brown and drop, but we actually have some color. We have been having very cool nights some down into the mid-forties. It is lovely at the moment 75 degrees. We had a cool front go through. On Thursday, last, we had almost 4 inches of rain in the morning. .................Click on the pictures, you will be able to see the color .................

My pictures should look better. I have a new camera. My old one bit the dust. It had been in the repair shop once when Jim caught it in the car door and sort of messed it up. It has never been the same since we got it back from the fix-it shop but we used it for a year plus. I bought a Canon Power Shot. It is smaller than I thought it would be but it is a much better camera than my old one and cheaper too. Technology is wonderful.

For those following genealogy with me or who may have known my cousin Bonnie Lou Krumm Wyatt-Meis, she passed away yesterday at the age of 78 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I will post her genealogy as I know it, possibly tomorrow. Our sympathies go out to her family and friends. I had visited Bonnie in CR a few years ago on one of my visits to CR. She was a sweet and lovely lady and I enjoyed talking with her.

On the quilting front............I am still trying to finish up quilts that I have to finish by a cerain date. I am making progress, slow, but I hope that this week I might have them done as far as I can go until they are quilted. I created a new quilt and I am anxious to start it. I must have it done by February. I am nuts to put myself under the gun again. I think tonight I might cut some of the fabric for the quilt, but I am not going to sew a stitch until I have these other two ready to be quilted.

Hope all is well on your end..........

Sharie

Pillowcases and Antique Chenille

This is a quilt I made while I was living in California. I had it quilted in Westlake, LA. I decided to put it on my guest bed. I change the quilt in my guest room every few months. Yesterday and today, I made the pillowcases to match. I had to do some hunting to find any fabric that had been used in the quilt. I piece all the backs on my quilts, so thus, I don't usually have very much fabric left over.

The stuffed rabbit on the bed is made with antique chenille. The local quilt guild invited a lady to do a program and her "thing" was antique chenille. She had some lovely things and very interesting things to say about chenille. Since I am talking about this subject, I will show you the doll I made many moons ago. Her dress is also antique chenille from the same source.

I really need to break down and buy a new camera. All of pictures that I have taken of late are dark in the upper corners. Click on pictures to see them in a larger view.

What is on My Design Board...................

I am working on teapots this week. You can see Greek Key's hanging under them. The teapot quilt must be finished (pieced, quilted, and bound) by the middle of November. It is such a cute quilt I need to make one for me. I have plans for 4 borders, that is at the moment. It should end up as a lap size quilt. This is a gift for my sister. She is a collector of old teapots (Hall's and etc.). She has a bunch. All very lovely and wonderful treasures.

Sew What....................

I saw this in a shop yesterday (Sally's in Westlake, LA). I thought it was just too cute and had to buy it.

Halloween..................

I am decorating for Halloween. I made this quilt a few years ago. It is so cute. I love all the puppy-dogs dressed up in costume. It was a panel and I chopped it up and added the other fabric. All the spiderwebs and the smiles and eyes on the pumpkins glow in the dark.

The skeleton is rubber. He is so cute. I put him in this artificial plant. So fun.....................

When I lived in California, we would get maybe 10-20 kids. Here, they block off the streets. I live on a circle with a couple of streets connecting the two sides together. They block those off. Cars are only allowed on the circle and they can only go one way. We get up to 1000 kids. That is three zeros, not a typo. That is a lot of candy. We have a big witch that talks and her eyes flash and etc. The little kids are very curious, some afraid. It is fun to watch the teenagers. They come up and look at her. I will say shake hands with my witch. When they touch her she goes into her "thing." It is so fun to watch the reactions. My son comes and helps me with halloween. He dresses as a stick man (glow sticks). We take a table and our witch and go to the end of our drive. Vic will run through the yard and it looks like a stick man. People are amazed. We have a neighbor that puts in a grave yard. They have a blast with that. They put someone in a coffin. They have two-way radios. The other person, will tell him when someone is coming and he will jump out of the coffin. So fun. The whole neighborhood does Halloween. ................................. Click on the pictures, you can see them better.

What's on my Design Wall................

There is nothing new on my design board, just more of it. I still have 13 more blocks for the center and then the borders. I am still working on the pineapple (it is slow going) and I just finished embroidering the teapots. Now I must start putting the blocks together for the teapot quilt. It must be finished by the middle of November, including the quilting. And then there is the back that I am piecing for the opportunity quilt for my quilt guild. Busy, busy, busy!!!!

And would you believe that I am trying to clean house too??? You always have the boring things to do which interupts your fun stuff.

A SALE................

I went to a sale today. Anyone not there missed a nice sale. I bought 10 half yards of batiks and the blue in the front (really doesn't look like that) is a print. I bought the last 1 3/4 yards of it. I have more of the same. I am putting it into my Greek Key quilt and I have another quilt that I want to put it in. The camera did not do a good job of photgraphing it. It is much deeper in color. I really need a new camera. Mine is on its last legs, but I am tight (except for buying fabric) and hate to spend the money to buy a new camera since mine is still working although not very well. AND SHARIE'S NEWS.................... There is not a lot new here. We are having company from Idaho this next week. They are good friends and we always enjoy their visit. It is 77 degrees at 4:16 p.m. That is better than 97 and not long ago it was exactly that. I know fall is coming. The calendar tells me that fall is coming. Wasn't Sept. 21st the first day of fall? If it weren't for the fact that I would be wishing my life away, I would wish for winter tomorrow. Yesterday, I went to Beaumont, TX to a demo for machine embroidery. It was actually a slide show about stabilizers. It was very informative. Three of us went. We stopped at Jason's Deli for lunch. Jason's has wonderful food (sandwiches, soup, and salad). I had a Pannini. It was really scrumptous. Then we headed off to Nederland, TX. There is a quilt shop there. We arrived at 4:45, they close at 5:00. They didn't mind us keeping them a little late. They have lovely fabric. It is a small store, but they pack a lot of fabric in there. We passed through Orange, TX on the way home. We stopped for a Dairy Queen. I think it is the closest Dairy Queen to us in the Lake Charles area. From me, that has to be about 50 miles or so. I had not had one in a long time, it sure was good. I was home by dark. It was a long, fun day. Hope all is well on your end. Sharie

Show us Your Stash

Oh my...........

No. 1 - This cabinet is packed full. Including the three drawers. One drawer is unfinished projects, the next is to the top with batiks and the bottom is civil war.

No. 2 - The right side - Lots of everything. Projects etc. In the middle is two wooden drawers, they are full of batiks. The funny looking tunnel is the cat's toy.

No. 3 - On the left - Lots of roll-around-carts, storage boxes and more project boxes.

No. 4 - Another cabinet. Only the top is full. The bottom actually has clothes in it.

I really don't expect much change in all of this by Jan. 1. I have projects that I am working on and really need to finish them before I tackle a new quilt. I had a goal for this year to finish 12 quilts. I think I am getting close. I might even make it. I need the same goal for next year, and if I don't buy anything else :-) I might actually make a dent in all of this.

Sharie's News

What is new???? Not a whole lot. Vic came over today and he and I worked in the yard. We have 1.2 acres of ground, so there is a lot of yard work. Jim does the mowing. He has been having problems with his back. He has difficulty walking but can still sit on his zero turn lawnmower. He puts on his ear phones (radio) and off he goes. We have a lot of grass, but we also have little trees and hedges, and big trees all need trimming. And then there is weed whacking. A lot of the work that Vic and I did today won't have to be done again for a year (I hope). The hedges should be going dormant, so maybe they won't need to be done again until late spring after they get a spurt of growth in the spring. We didn't finish all the work today, so Vic will be back in a few days and we will do more. The weather is good. We can't complain too much. It is starting to cool down. At least it is below 90. So far no hurricanes this year. Next week is the anniversary of Hurricane Rita. After Oct 1 we should be safe although I don't think hurricane season ends until Nov. 1st. Hope all is well on your end. Sharie

What's on My Design Board

The pattern is a Greek Key. I am going to name it "It's all Greek to Me." I have redesigned this quilt at least 10 times. I think I am down to something now that I like. I have a lot of irons in the fire at the moment, so finishing it may go on the back burner I am embroidering tea pots. The tea pot quilt has to be finished by November. I am also working on the Opportunity Quilt for the guild. It must be finished including the quilting by January 1st. I am in the process of piecing a back for it. I will post it when it is finished.

Kitchen Curtains - Funky Chickens

This is over the sink. From what I can see, the black is really black and white polka dots. They don't look like they show up in the picture. Click on the picture for a better view. There are three windows in my kitchen looking out onto the sun porch. The chairs in this picture are in need of recovering. I cannot complain since I bought them in 1978 and this is the original covering. I am looking for black with white polka dots. I located some and am sending for a swatch tomorrow. Click on picture for a better view.

Sharie's News................

What is new??? Not a whole lot. Actually things are rather dull around here. We did have a storm last night. We got an inch and a quarter in about a half hour. Lots of lightening and thunder. It is 75 degrees at 10:14 a.m. It's on its way to 92 with a 20% chance of rain. We had a 20% chance of rain yesterday too. That means that our 20% has a good chance of becoming 100% late in the day. I am still brushing at the hairy beast (Yethi). She needs a groom but can't go until I have her brushed good. She doesn't cooperate. She doesn't really like being brushed although she seems to be getting better. When she has had enough, about 10 minutes, she's done and off she goes. Our Yethi had her 5th birthday this week. She is such a sweetheart and she is a beauty. I have to brag about her brother. He is a big champion. He won last week at Lexington, KY - BEST IN SHOW. There were 2000 dogs entered. Yethi's mom and sister are also champions. It is too bad that I am too old to do what you have to do to have a dog in a show. There is no way I could keep up with it, besides when would I quilt? I am going to make the last valance for my kitchen. I will post pictures. I love the funky chickens on the fabric. It really brightens up a boring room. Check it out later. Think I will see if I can find some other pictures to post. I have two nieces and a daughter having surgery tomorrow. It is all female surgery and I wish them a speedy recovery and may the grace of God be with them. Well I guess that is it for now. See, very dull. No hurricanes in the air, no fires, no heat waves, no snow storms (for here that would be news), kids are all fine. Not much to write about. Hope all is well on your end. Sharie

What's on My Design Wall

At the top - I am making progress. I actually have four more blocks finished that are not up there. I am using tham as patterns. At the bottom - I have a friend that wanted to make a Greek Key quilt. She sent me an email saying that she could not find one and asked me if I would design one. I could not just design it and not make it, so here we are, another quilt started. There is also a couple of the teapots that I am making. I now have 10 made and 10 to go.

Design Wall - Update

One border to go. Then to make a pieced back, quilt and bind (black). Maybe it will be finished in a month or so.

What's on my Design Wall

This quilt, I am going to finish this week. I am in the process of putting on borders and then will make a pieced back.

I named this quilt, "Just a Log Cabin." I was working on it, at the shop, and someone said to me something about the quilt, and I said, "it's just a log cabin." I thought, that is a great title, so thus, it is "Just a Log Cabin."

As most people who know me and my quilting, I like lots of color and I like lots of pieces. In the center there is 1872 pieces. The outside border has 22 log cabins in it. I designed the quilt and will make a pattern for it when I am finished.

Hopefully I can post it finished soon.

Sharie's News

There is not a lot new here. The weather 72 degrees at 7:25 a.m. We have had rain on and off this week. It is typical for southern Louisiana this time of year. The forcast is for night time temps to be in the 60's this following week. Fall is around the corner. I am so looking forward to it and hopefully we will be hurricane free. So far, so good. Jim has been busy doing volunteer work for the USS Orleck. It is a ship that is going to be anchored in the lake. It is going to be used for a tourist attraction and etc. I took a quilt in to the quilter to be quilted yesterday. I was in luck, one of my quilting buddies was in the shop so we put our heads together and decided how it should be quilted. Today, I am off to a quilt shop sale with a friend. We will go to lunch probably at Joe's Pizza Place (or what ever it is called). They really do have good Italian food. It is hard to go to the quilt shop without going to lunch at Joe's. As I said nothing exciting going on here. Hope all is well on your end. Sharie

All the machine embroidery on this quilt is gorgeous. I have managed to get 5 blocks(embroidery) finished. You have to place templates and then embroidery around them. It is a nice technique and easier to do then I thought before I started. This is a block of the month (6 months). Another quilter and I are each making one and our goal is to be finished shortly after we receive our final kit. I am behind already, but hope to catch up by the end of September.

What's on my Design Wall...........

Machine embroidered teapots - when I am finished there will be 20 teapots. Aren't they cute? I am making the teapots to match fabric I have to complete the block.