Quilting Weather!

You've got no idea how happy I am that right here in Central CA there is a chance (small as it is) that we could have a bit of snow this weekend. It'll definitely be cold and rainy! So in response, my sweet hubby and I have a plan. The videos are rented and the fireplace is lit! I don't mind him playing golf at all, but I am really looking forward to just rolling out of bed and onto the couch with him to sit and watch one movie after another. It doesn't hurt that the sewing machine is only a few steps away and when I need to stretch my legs, there it will be. This could be the most perfect weekend ever!

Since it has been a while since my last post, I do have a few blocks/triangle photos to share. I've not gotten as much done as I would have liked, but there has been some progress. This first one is K4, called Thea's Turn, it was paper pieced and has 17 pieces. 

 This triangle is BR3, called Attic Window, was paper pieced and has 20 pieces.

 This next one is a block I've been dreading since I started working on this quilt 3 1/2 years ago. I finally decided to jump ahead and get it done! It's M3, called Fireweed Flower, was paper pieced and regular pieced with Y seams galore! It has 25 pieces and I am so glad it's DONE! And I'm pretty pleased with how it came out.

 This last one is K3, called Seven Sisters and was entirely rotary cut and pieced and has 31 pieces. The pattern called for the outside boarders to be the background color, but I liked it with the focus fabric better, don't you?

Now, I believe I'm down to about 26 blocks left to do and 5 or 6 triangles left including that darn one that went missing about a month ago. I started working on redoing that one last night, ugh! So anyway, I've begun putting some chunks of the quilt together. How much fun is that? Okay, it's really not any fun until they come together and I can gaze upon this quilt and think I may actually be done with it some day!

Hope you have some wonderful quilting weather wherever you are this weekend!

My name is Melanie

Melody is a fine name, a pretty name. Especially when you really think about the meaning of the word. Melody....But my name is Melanie.  And when someone calls me Melody, it just sounds like they are trying to say my name, but have a very bad cold. So it's really unfortunate that I have come to really dislike the name Melody, or at least being called that. Don't you just hate it when people get their panties all in a bunch about silly, meaningless things? I know I do and yet here I am, annoyed at being called Melody!
So, forgive me, but please call me MELANIE.

Wow, it's been a long time!

Coming up for air here, if only for a moment! I see my last post was done the night before I went back to school. At 51 college is still fun, even if it is demanding. I still love it. Don't listen to me all those times I'm whining and complaining. Hmmm. Tonight I'm feeling relieved because the 3rd oral exam is done. It's always good to cross something off the list, even if there is so much more left undone. Wow, I've really strayed off the path here! Let's get back to stitching!

I have been able to find a few minutes here and there to do a little work on my baby Jane. This first block is called Grandpa's chickens. It is K-2, was completely machine pieced and has 40 pieces. The block in the original quilt has the borders done in the background color, but I like it this way!

I'm counting down to getting all of my triangles done and because the end is in sight, have been doing more of those than blocks. This one is BR7, was machine pieced with a little of the usual applique and has 27 pieces. I love this fabric!

I really like how this one turned out! This is BR6 called Frank's Ric Rac. This was mostly paper pieced and has 31 pieces. 

 

Sorry, couldn't get this picture to rotate. This one nearly killed me. Seriously, a couple of these seams were ripped out up to 7 times! I just should have done this completely differently than I did, but oh well, it's done! This was also mostly paper pieced. It is BR10, called Nicholas' Diamond and has 25 pieces. Trying to get the hardest ones done first.  I think there are only 6 triangles left to be tackled!

 

There are a couple more than this done, but the camera is on the fritz, so no pictures yet. Oh, and if you see this one, please let me know. It's gone missing. Happens this is probably my least favorite block of the bunch, so that's probably why it crawled off somewhere. Sure hope I don't have to remake it! 

Hope you are all well out there in blogland. Will try to post more this weekend!

Melanie

It was a good weekend!

Oh my, there's a lot that went on this weekend that I can't even begin to share here! My sisters and I range in age from 51 to 64 and most of the time we act like we are 12. Thankfully, that's only when we are together. Thing is, sadly, we act like 12 year old BOYS. Ugh. But do we laugh! And sew.

Unfortunately, my camera seems to be dead so I don't have any action shots to share. (You know you want to see some of those!) All I have are stills of my DJ progress. I'm getting so excited about this. I have prepped a triangle and my last corner kite for some applique and once those are done I only have 8 triangles and 30 blocks left. This is definitely the countdown. I can tell that nearly every post until this baby is done is going to not mention how many are done, but rather how many need to be done! You have no idea how much I'd like to have this done by June. NO IDEA!

Okay, here's the latest:
This is BR-9, called Sue's Garden, is all appliqued and has 10 pieces. It is easily one of my least favorite pieces in this quilt!

This is BLC, I don't know it's name if it has one, but I do know it has 75, yes 75 pieces and is paper pieced. I really like this one! I love this fabric!

I don't know why these are sideways, but I don't have the energy to fix them. I'm trying to do the hardest ones left, first.  This one looked hard, but wouldn't have been if I was paying more attention to what I was doing. The pattern definitely didn't have the 2 little side pieces at the top, but they will disappear in the finished product. This one is BR-7, is called Cheryl's Clown and was paper pieced. It has 32 pieces, not including that little error at the top...
To me, this looks like a Southwest pattern. I'm not fond of it, but it's done and I will like it just fine in the quilt! Soon, I  hope to get BR 10 done. It looks HARD!
 

It's the Weekend!

Today I am heading south to Ventura County, where my sister, Priscilla lives. I have 3 sisters and we all sew, 3 of us activly quilt (and the 4th does on occasion). This weekend has become an annual sisters-sew-fest! We get together and sew our guts out!

If all goes well, I will be starting school this coming week. The goal there is to get a few science classes out of the way so that I can get into nursing school. So, my life will likely have a very different landscape by just next weekend! Thus, I am looking forward to my sewing weekend to get as much done on this Jane quilt as is physically possible! I'm down to having only 10 triangles plus the 2 bottom kites to finish (along with 30 blocks), so that is where my efforts will be focused this weekend. I can't wait!

I've completed BR9, called Sue's Garden (again, WHY?), it was completely appliqued and has 10 pieces. I must say, this is one of my least favorite blocks/triangles in the quilt! I will post a picture of it here shortly. And, I hope to be able to share several new finishes by the end of the weekend.

Hope you too are getting a chance to sew your guts out!

I really should be in bed, but...

My quilty girlfriends kept me up tonight with all the creativity, laughs and food! So here I am.

Just a quick post here...to show you my latest triangle from Jane..
This is RS13, is my last one on that side(!), is called Marlene's Pirouette, is paper pieced and appliqued and has 14 pieces! Hope to do the bottom corner kites this weekend and maybe a couple more triangles. I'll keep you "posted!"

Happy New Year!!

Don't know about you, but this year is shaping up to be VERY interesting! I have a lot planned and many goals and as usual, I'm just not too sure how it's all going to get done!! But isn't that what makes life interesting??

One of my goals is to finally finish my Baby Jane quilt. Of course, this was also one of last year's goals!! Feeling much more hopeful about it this year though. All that is left are 30 blocks, 11 triangles and 2 corner kites. Wow, that feels like it's almost done to me! The decision is final that this quilt is going to be heirloom machine quilted, so that is one part of this I won't have to worry about, other than the $400-$500 price tag, of course!!!

Here are my latest finishes....
The first one is a block that was done all except for the corner melons a while back and they turned out to be just too small to hand applique. I considered just leaving them off, but in the end I decided to machine applique them. This is the only time I have used machine applique on this entire quilt. I guess I can live with that! This one is J9, called  Maury High School, was machine pieced and appliqued with 13 pieces.

This triangle is RS-12, called Linda's Church in the Valley, was paper pieced and regular pieced and has 29 pieces.  To me this one looks more like a wedding cake than a church, but oh well!

 Okay, this one looks wonky at the top, but it really isn't! This is RS-5, Geisha Girl, machine and regular pieced, with a bit of applique and has 29 pieces again. It is the only block in my quilt made of a solid color fabric. This is a triangle I made about a year and a half ago and somehow lost. I had hoped it would show up because it was made of the last bit of a cute polka dot fabric that I loved. Oh well. It feels great to have this one redone!

This one is RS 11 called Hills of Jerusalem, is paper and regular pieced and has 31 pieces. Don't you just want to know how they came up with these names????

This morning I put the final touches on RS13, the last one in that row! Unfortunately, my camera is on the blink, so I can't show it to you. Will save that for another post.

Thank you for visiting my posts. I wish you and yours a healthy and happy New Year!
Do tell, what are your goals for next year, sewing or otherwise????