July OPAM

Well, it's not much, but it is a finished project nonetheless. I just wish it was one of my old projects. This one was started on a whim this year. I'm hoping to get a bed-sized quilt done for August that I've been slowly working on for a couple of years. It just needs one more border and then it's ready to layer and start quilting....Can't wait to show you the finished product!

Latest DJ Triangles etc

It's been a while! Here are the last 3 triangles completed. This first one is my least favorite of the bunch as it came out pretty wonky. But as they say, "from a galloping horse..." It has 18 pieces and like so many of these guys it is paper pieced and appliqued.




Next up we have Left Side 9. This baby is pure applique and has only 7 pieces.

Last on the DJ front is Right Side 5. This one is paper and regular pieced plus a bit of applique. It has 26 pieces and I'm happy with this one!
I feel like I have been pushing myself a bit too hard with these blocks and it has started to become a bit of a drag to work on. I don't want that to happen because it is such a fun project, so I'm taking a bit of a break. If I feel like making an occasional block or triangle, I will, but for now there are other projects that need some attention.

This year started out so positively with the OPAM (One Project a Month) goal. I have made one project a month, but they have been relatively small and several of them have been started new this year. My whole goal when I joined this group was to actually finish some of the quilts that have been started but never completed. I still like all of them, so need to get them done while that is still the case!

In addition to completing some quilty projects, I'm hoping to get a few other things done. Hopefully recording them here for all to see, will be an incentive to get them done! So here they are:

1) Tone down the bright yellow paint in the kitchen. My idea here is to do a "wash" of a very light buttery yellow mixed in with a glaze. I'm hoping this works!
2) Make new curtains for the kitchen (this is on my OPAM list)
3) Make a new valance for the guest bath
4) Paint the guest bedroom
5) Paint at least 2 walls of the master bedroom

This weekend was my first weekend off from Jane and it felt so productive! It's really amazing just how much time those little blocks take! For now I'm off to put binding on a small scalloped table topper. I'll keep you posted and will try to come back a bit more often now...

Have you done some stitching yourself? If not, stop blogging and go do it!!!

Melanie

Two more blocks!

Things have slowed down here a bit for the summer. Lots of yard work to be done, not to mention that sometimes LIFE just gets in the way of sewing. Know what I mean? Managed to get a block and a tri done this weekend.

This was last week's block. It's called Ben's Bowtie. It was rotary cut and pieced with a bit of applique and has 36 pieces.
This was this weekend's project and was very easy. Rotary cut and pieced with 26 pieces. It is H10 and called Ben's Bowtie. This was my last block in row H so I'm on to row I! Row I has some pretty easy looking ones and some tougher ones. I think I'll tackle the harder ones first.
I'm saving the triangle for next time. Actually there's 2 to share....

Until then!
Melanie

The Buggy Barn Outing

So, when I was on vacation in Spokane, my niece, the planner, had something planned for us every day. We had so much fun! It's a beautiful place and seems like a great place to raise a family.

So one day we hopped in the car and headed out of town. I thought it was going to be a 20 minute trip (but it seemed longer) to the town of Reardan where the Buggy Barn is. It was a bit of an adventure going through the farm fields and down about a mile on a dirt road to this wonderful place! I believe this shot is of one of the owner's homes. The picture is taken from the shop.This is a blury picture, but I thought it was a cute one anyway. We love taking pictures in quilt stores! From left to right this is my niece Lindsey, sister Betsy, me, great-niece Sammy Jo, and her mom and my host niece Sarah.
Here's another photo taken from the back corner of the shop. Can you tell that every square inch of this place is utilized??? It's not big, but one could easily spend hours in here. There are samples everywhere, even the ceiling! I bought a kit called Crazy Rays. I really don't need another quilt to make, but I wanted a souvenier from the trip. And I will enjoy it when I get to it.
By the time we had finished shopping, we had worked up quite a hunger! One of the gals who works in the store has a brother who owns an old style drive in called Dean's. So we headed over there and had burgers and shakes. Yum! I had a bacon cheese burger and a berry shake. The name of the berry escapes me now, but it is a popular berry in the Northwest.

Hope everyone has a great Independence Day! Enjoy your weekend and do some stitching!

Melanie

Triangle Catch-up!

Here are the triangles I've been working on for the past few weeks. There is one other, but I haven't photo'd it yet.

This is LS7, Sally's Steeple. It was paper pieced and appliqued, has only 15 pieces and was a fun one!
The next two are all or almost all applique and were ideal for the plane! This one is RS7, Fedelia's Hearts, had a wee bit of paper piecing in it and has only 13 pieces!
Lastly we have RS8, Love Forever that was all applique and has only 5 pieces.

I think with the one I haven't shown you yet, that brings me to 32 triangles completed. There are a total of 56 counting the corner kites (I have 2 corner kites in my completed number). So at one a week, I should have all the tris done in about 6 months if I don't take a break. I think I need to take a break pretty soon here though. With my work schedule and everything else going on in my life, keeping this pace starts to be a drain and my yard is suffering. I will probably go until October and then start working on Christmas gifts and then start up in the new year again. At any rate, I'm happy with my progress!

For those of you with a 3 day weekend approaching, hope you get lots of stitching done! I don't get the 3rd off unfortunately, but I'll make the most of the weekend.

Happy Independence Day! God Bless America!

Melanie