A Final Entry to Finish It Up Friday!

A Final Finish for December!



Some finishes that I can finally show.   Our Loose Thread Challenges for 2018 were revealed at our Christmas party. We each drew from a brown paper bag -  a "shape", 2 colors and a "technique".  I selected  "Farm Animal", Red & Pink, and for a technique, Crazy Quilting.
This is the finished project:

Pink and Red Pig  with embroidered "parts names" and various stitches around the edges of each piece. It was very fun!  I did a small grid quilting in the background.

The backing was discovered at a quilt store about 2 hours from home, and there is a hidden zipper under the red heart piece.  I am happy with it. 


I did get 3 potato bags and 2 bowl cozies made for Christmas gifts. I will be adding in some packets of soup mix and a homemade tree ornament.

 Potato bags and the bowl cozies, upside down so you can see the outside. The teal colored one is for our daughter.

The same potato bags with the cozy turned right side up so you can see the inside. The one with the beer bottles is for our son.  It matches the backing in the quilt he got for his 50th Birthday!

I am linking this post up to Amanda Jean's final Finish It Up Friday!  I will miss reading her blog, seeing her amazing quilts and learning from her tutorials. I am glad the blog will remain up for reference. And I will continue to follow her on Instagram. 


I will continue to follow the bloggers I have discovered on Finish It Up Friday...you are bookmarked!  And I will post at Finished or Not Friday, Brag About Your Beauties, and a few others as I discover them.  Thanks to all quilt bloggers!  You make my early morning meanderings so enjoyable. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Finished or Not Friday

Some finishes that I can finally show.   Our Challenges for 2018 were revealed at our Christmas party. We each drew from brown paper bag -  a "shape", 2 colors and a "technique".  I selected  "Farm Animal", Red & Pink, and for a technique, Crazy Quilting.
This is the finished project:

Pink and Red Pig  with embroidered "parts names" and various stitched around the edges of each piece. It was very fun!  I did a small grid quilting in the background.

The backing was discovered at a quilt store about 2 hours from home, and there is a hidden zipper under the red heart piece.  I am happy with it. 


I did get 3 potato bags and 2 bowl cozies made for Christmas gifts. I will be adding in some packets of soup mix and a homemade tree ornament.

 Potato bags and the bowl cozies, upside down so you can see the outside. The teal colored one is for our daughter.

same potato bags with the cozied turned right side up so you can see the inside. The one with the beer bottles is for our son.  It matches the backing in the quilt he got for his 50th Bday!


I am still working on flying geese blocks and having a difficult time. I am not sure why?

My great nephew had his first birthday party last Saturday and the Wednesday before, his grandpa (my brother) had a heart attack. All are in MN.  My brother looks pretty good, don't ya think?( in the middle in the back)

Smash cakes are the best!  Hooray!!!

I also have been working on these little fun projects.  A friend was making them and said she had found the idea on Pinterest. I dug around in my yarn scraps, Mr Busy cut 2 toilet paper rolls into 3/4" circles and I went to town. I thought I needed 10.  I have since recounted my kids and grands and great grands and spouses and significant others and need 12 + 2 if I want 2 for our own tree. I have already gifted 2 to our youngest granddaughter and her fiance. They were here for Thanksgiving and so I sent 2 home with them. They are in Loveland CO and hope to have a real tree this year.

I have 5 that need to be sent to AZ and 4 that need to stay here and one to go home with our daughter when she comes for her birthday and early Christmas on the 15th. So I have at least 4 more to make.



Thanks all, oh there was a "squirrel" project...but I'll share that a bit later. 😃

I'm linking up at Busy Hands Quilts : Finished or Not Friday!


Stay Busy and Stay Happy

CiL Blocks for November and December OMG Link Up

My OMG for December is to finish 8 of these blocks and get them sent off to Kat.

I am struggling with the contrast of the purples and what is in my stash. I love purple. It is one of my favorite colors!   But soft lavender and purple grays are scarce in my stash.

Here is the link to CiL Blocks for November and December. From Kat and Cat Quilts.

 I see aqua and even green in this photo. But I know that colors are often skewed when shared online. Kat says purple grays, soft spring purples.    I decided to cut my stash. It this a solid or a print?  I think it reads solid.  But then when I assembled it, I used it in both places.  UUGGG!  Guess in my eyes, it depended on what fabric it was used with!

 Here is the silvery lavender with a darker purple print. I think it will be OK?

Unhappy with my stash and scraps, but got several units shown below.

 Off to the fabric store I went in search of solids.  I have mostly medium prints, it seems! I did not buy a lot and the leftovers will go in my version of the scrap savers system.

Now I am on to finish eight blocks and get them off to Kat before the end of the year. I am hoping that my rather drab blocks with fit well with some others to make beautiful quilts. It seems that Kat and her angel helpers work magic with the blocks that are sent in.  I have enjoyed my participation in the CiL drive for all of 2018.  I plan to participate again in 2019.


Stay Busy and Stay Happy

I'm linking up at Elm Street Quilts in the December OMG Link Up. 

OMG-November Finish Link Up

My goal for November was to get 1/2 the rows for Rick Rack Nines put together. That meant rows built and then added to make half the quilt top.  This pattern is set on point, sort of.  The rows are pieced and sewn on the diagonal. It will be a huge quilt. Hopefully big enough so it looks good on our king size bed. The quilt I use now lets the blankets and the sheet peek out a bit. Kind of like a slip showing ( when women wore slips,  that is!)  Kind of shows how old I am! :)

I had some issues with this one. I haven't done a quilt this big before. I haven't done the diagonal rows before!  And I made the 9 patches over the last several years as leaders and enders.  I discovered some are not 5" square and some are wonky!  I spent more that a few times unsewing, re measuring my 2" squares ( some are cut just a bit tiny)  I have learned a thing or two about cutting over the years!  Get the ruler line ON the fabric!  Nuff about my woes!

This is rows 1-8 being added to rows 9-14!  I sewed them in sets of two rows, then added 2+2 to make 4, then 4+4 to make 8. It seemed more manageable to me. My space is limited, my pressing station is just a regular ironing board. So I have to do what I have to do. Oh, look!  There is the zebra print that was in my first great grandbaby's quilt!

Most of my corners were good.

 Some not so good. Can you see the corner of the background fabric and the red hearts in the lattice that meet the next row.  Yikes.!  I guess in the big scheme of things , after it is all done , bordered and quilted the little oops will be hard to find.  I least that is my hope!

There are lots of seams so lots of chances to go wrong. Most of the problems were in pressing. If they nest on two rows, not necessarily on the next two. I do love looking at all the little 2 inch squares and remembering the fabric. The Dalmatian dog print was in a casserole carrier for a friend who loves dogs. The green and red plaid  woven fabric in a wall hanging that was one of my first projects. The red clamshells to the left of the plaid, was in the Airplane quilt for Mr Busy! So many memories and I only purchased background fabric.


So it is hanging on my design wall, too long and already too wide!  I will sew the next half working my way back to the middle, then sew both halves together. Not in December though, too busy. My OMG for December will be doable, I hope.

So here is my OMG Finish for November.  I am linking up with Patty at Elm Street Quilts. November Finish Link Up. 



Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Chubby Little Heart Shaped Pincushions and some progress

I have been struggling the last two weeks.  I am in a FUNK!  And I am not sure why!

The first Wednesday of every month, I sew with my Loose Threads group. We had to cancel our October retreat because the Resort we go to, had a water well fail!  Not their fault but we were all sad. At our meeting we decided to try to do an "In Town" Retreat in January. November and December are all so so busy and traveling in any winter month in Wyoming is iffy at best! So it is set up to sew at our local library for 3 days. We can't carry in, they don't have kitchen facilities. But we will call for take out and then the last night, we plan to pack up , then go out to dinner somewhere. We will sleep at home, in our own beds, but sew sew sew for 3 days.! It will be fun!

So you would think, I would be in a better mood!  Hmmmm!

I did finish two pincushions that were on my November APQ (All People Quilt ) Challenge, for November.

I started with a pattern and two fat quarters from a bundle I have had for "years". You can see the Pink Ribbon fabric. The whole bundle was Pink Ribbon themed. It was serendipitous that this was the project chosen for November. In November of 2000, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and by December16th, I had a mastectomy. Chemo started on New Years Eve and I was finished in March. A whirlwind of a time. I have been cancer free since, so 18 years this week.

I also picked a third fabric, a pink pin dot, that upon examination, had fades slightly on the fold lines. Showing its age, for sure. That fabric was for the tie at the top, so it did not show the fading and they turned out cute!

 Two fat quarters make two pincushions. The directions called for plastic pellets in addition to the fiberfill. I did not have pellets, used some walnut hulls instead, but that did not work very well.  I would do it different another time.

I also have been working at sewing diagonal rows for my Rick Rack Nines quilt. It is a slow process, but that is ok. My goal is to get half of them done by the end of November. My design wall is not big enough to do the whole quilt at once. So half and then the other half.

I have rows 1-8 sewn together. Row 11 is the lone one above. 

Rows 9-10 are on the ironing board, awaiting pressing. I have been sewing 2 rows together, then the two rows to the main part. It seems to be working well. There are lots of seams to "nest" and press!

When I take photos like this one, I realize that I may need to spend some time straightening up my space!  YIKES!


I am linking up with Finished or Not Friday with Myra at Busy Hands Quilts and
at TGIFF with AlyciaQuilts this week ( I am a newcomer here)

Ten people for Thanksgiving, so I am off to plan, plan, plan.

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Finish It Up Friday and Finished Or Not Friday 11-2018

I am always glad to have a plan.  I was hoping to have lots of photos to show on this first Friday of the month post.  You know what they say about best laid plans.

We traveled the first part of October and visited our son and daughter. Our son had a milestone birthday and is by himself. So of course I made him a quilt. He lives in Phoenix, a may not really need a quilt.  But now he has one!

We were home for one week and I was planning lots of projects for a 4 day retreat in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming (it's my home state and only 60 miles from home). We always have lots of fun and usually accomplish a great deal. But the Friday before the Monday of our first day, they had a water well or water line problem and had to cancel. Because they also host hunters and hunting season is in full swing in this area, we could not reschedule right away.  Now we are looking at a couple of option in the coming 3 months..but driving is "iffy" in Dec and January.  It could be lovely, but it could also be treacherous. I am not sure what we will decide. We meet on Wed the 7th for our regular monthly get-together.

One of my project to do at the retreat was to have 8 blocks complete for CiL Block Drive.

These are Grown Up  I Spy blocks. You can read more about this project here and  here. They have been sent off to Kat.   The new block drive is in full swing and I am gathering fabric for it.

The last Friday of October, my sister lost her husband of 31 years. He had been failing for a while, but boy is it hard!  I want to "hover" and "be there", but she is 2 hours away and hates to be "hovered over"  So I will be available to talk, to text, to support her in any way I can.

And now it is November and there are lots of new challenges to keep me busy. My new One Monthly Goal is to get HALF of Rick Rack Nines put together.  You can see my post about that one HERE. 

I have a local challenge due to be revealed on the 18th of this month at our Quilt Chicks gathering.
It is this quilt and it is done.

The stripe binding is laying on the top in this photo but it is quilted and bound. I know I have a photo of it complete, but I can't find it this morning. I will take a picture at the reveal day and then I will have one.

binding the Magnolia Quilt

My project #4 for the All People Quilt UFO challenge is to make a heart shaped large pincushion. It is ready to go.  I have had this fabric for maybe 15 years, it's time to use it!

Sew it's time to get busy and finish up some projects. And Christmas is only 7 Fridays away.!!



Stay Busy and Stay Happy

I'm linking up with Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts, Finish It Up Friday and 

Myra at Busy Hands Quilts, Finished or  Not Friday

OH, and I finished reading the Storyteller by Jodi Picoult and The Dry by Jane Harper.  Both really good. 

November One Monthly Goal Link Up

I've been working on making 9 patches as leaders and enders for the last several years. Then I picked background fabric, Downstairs at Downton Abbey (cream with light olive green sprigs), from Andover Fabrics.

There are 290 9-patches needed, here are 110!

 I started to lay it out in April of 2018. This is a Bonnie Hunter pattern called Rick Rack Nines from her book, Adventures with Leaders and Enders.  You can read more about the beginning in THIS post!  I packed it back in it's project box because I needed my design wall for another UFO project!

This layout shows an "oops".  I packed it back in the project box.

Now I am ready to get the top together.  My OMG for November 2018 is to get half the blocks sewn together. This is a big top and is put together on the diagonal. My design wall will barely be big enough for the half triangle. Bonnie Hunter suggest putting it together in 2 halves also.

It is on my design wall. The first bottom left corner triangle is sewn to row 1. Row 2 and 3 have been added. Row 4 is sewn to Row 5.  More 9 patches and background squares are laid out. 

This will probably take me all month.  There is Thanksgiving coming up. My sister lost her husband after a long and complicated illness last Friday, the 26th. She lives about 2 hours away from me, but I may make a trip or two over there just because.  She has no children, so she is really all alone.


I will link this post up to Patty's OMG November Link Up.


Stay Busy and Stay Happy