Shirley Anne’s Heart

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Orange and Pineapple Crush - Step 3

TA DA…..My Step 3 of Bonnie K. Hunter’s (quiltville.com) second online ORANGE CRUSH mystery quilt is accomplished. Hip Hip Hooray!

I am seriously cheering because getting all of these triangles sewn on the correct side was not easy for me (I am a bit directionally challenged and hopelessly spatially misguided!) In fact, I made an entire extra set too many (because I had them ALL facing the same direction instead of half in one and half in the other direction!)

My CRUMB BLOCK BAG just got fed! sigh…….:)

I made my 44 CONTROLLED SCRAPPY Step 3 blocks using the E-Z and the Companion Angle rulers….just as Bonnie suggested. These are for my PINEAPPLE CRUSH Quilt (I am not using any orange in it!)

AND…….below are my 44 TOTALLY SCRAPPY Step 3 blocks for the Orange Crush Mystery Quilt (it will have orange in it!) I made these using the method of first making a four patch from 2 1/2″ blocks and then slashing them diagonally twice to make the top part of the block.

I used the COMPANION ANGLE to cut the bottom triangle for the block. THAT MADE IT SO EASY. It was easy because there was no THINKING about what side of the triangle to sew to the next - when you cut the 4-patch two ways diagonally - voila - you have 2 of the TOP triangle pairs going in one direction and 2 going in the other direction - automatically.

(It is nothing short of a miracle!) Thanks to Solvi in Norway for figuring that one out!

Tags: Orange Crush Quilt, Pineapple Crush Mystery Quilt, Quilts in Progress by drsao
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A Mouse, A Brownie, and A Pineapple Crush

HERE IS WHAT I HAVE BEEN DOING……

Having fun with a mouse,

having fun with a Brownie,

and having fun making STEP 2 of my PINEAPPLE CRUSH MYSTERY QUILT!

FIRST THE MOUSE

Grandangel, Leanna, played the part of an evil mouse in her middle school play, HERCULES this past week. The production was excellent!

Here is LEANNA THE MOUSE with her proud, mom!

Leanna and her friend, Daniel - another evil mouse - chased a LION throughout the play!

It was so cute! (No bias on my part, of course!)

The cast party was also lots of fun - we had a wonderful Italian dinner at ANGELOS - and if you can judge the amount of fun we had by the decibal level in the room

then we had A LOT OF FUN (I saw a few parents taking ibuprofen -it was NOT quiet - especially when one of the 8th graders decided to drink ketchup with a straw from the bottle - then the 8th grade hilarity broke loose!!!)

This is Nanna with her two drama coaches from Swift Creek Middle and three of the the four sixth graders who were in the play.

Mrs. Calfee (ENGLISH 6) with the mice (Daniel and Leanna) and the very funny Harpie, Lucas

Ms. Beilhart (SPEECH AND DRAMA) with Leanna and Lucas.

AND FUN WITH THE BROWNIE

Grandangel Sarah was in her first BROWNIE Flag Ceremony Thursday night. Here she is saying the Brownie Pledge! (Sarah is the one with the vest on.)

Sarah earned lots of badges - time for Grandma Shirley to sew sew sew!!!!!

She also got her yearly Brownie pin :)

The whole Brownie Troop looks like little angels all lined up on the chruch steps

- it is hard to believe that they will soon become GIRL SCOUTS (in May!)

PINEAPPE CRUSH

AND in between these major events and my substitute teaching, I finished my 142 3 1/2″ square STEP TWO Half Triangle Four Patches for my PINEAPPLE CRUSH MYSTERY QUILT. This represents my CONTROLLED SCRAPPY efforts - my REAL scrappiness will be in my ORANGE CRUSH MYSTERY QUILT!

(Multiple personality???? No - just a compromise between the part of me that needs to have things controlled and the part of me that is trying to be wild and free - like our foremothers who made quilts from anything on hand and every color in sight!!)

These Pineapple Crush STEP 2 four patches were made with the EZ angle ruler and the Orange Crush STEP 2 four patches were made using the rotary cutter method. I actually liked both methods! I love the fact that there is no trimming with the EZ angle ruler though and I recommend that anyone who hasn’t already tried it to do so!

I am thinking that STEP THREE might be appearing in the next couple of days, so I finished JUST IN TIME.

I don’t know anyone who has more fun that I do!

My VA grandangels (three of them) and I will be entering the TOO MUCH FUN ZONE shortly. Their parents are taking a little vacation and GRANDMA SHIRLEY IS IN CHARGE.

Cooper (4) says it will be a NO RULES WEEK!

Maybe we will eat popcorn in bed

and …. have ice cream for breakfast

and … eat our dessert BEFORE our dinner

and ….. go to bed an hour late

and …. who knows what other fun we will dream up,

but one thing for sure, it will be a good week!

Tags: Pineapple Crush Mystery Quilt, SAO's Grandangels by drsao
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The Thimbleberries Lodge Lap Quilt is a Wrap!

The Thimbleberries Lodge Lap Quilt is a wrap. I just finished it tonight and it has a home on the wall in the family room - with its pillow (one of the ALL THE RAGE Quilter’s Corner’s Block of the Month blocks!) cousin. YEAH. It is always fun to complete a project, isn’t it!!!

My son-in-law, Greg (AKA der5er.com) sure did stain and hang those quilt blocks PERFECTLY!

As I stood admiring my “masterpiece” my grandangel, Leanna, tactfully wondered (outloud) if I had made the trees upside down…..I immediately ran to get the pattern to show her that I did, indeed, get those trees right side up! (I am known in my family to have geographical incompetencies - so it was a logical concern!)

Valerie of A NEEDLE RUNS THROUGH IT in Goochland, VA, my longarm expert, did a great job of quilting it.

And here is the pillow! Another line item crossed off my TO DO LIST.

$All the Rage BOM Pattern from Quilter\'s Corners$

I just don’t know what was more fun today - finishing this lap quilt (and crossing it off my list) or helping two classes of approximately 50 first graders (all at the same time) sort 30 to 40 bags of plastic, paper, styrofoam, metal and glass recycled trash to be made into art. I was an ART substitute teacher today - and that was one of the BEST ART PARTIES EVER KNOWN TO MANKIND! The kids didn’t even HEAR the relaxing background music played for the purpose of interjecting calm and order into the project!!!

Tags: Quilted Pillow, Quilts Completed in 2008, Thimbleberries, Thimbleberries Lodge Quilt, Thimbleberries Pillow by drsao
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I Hope You Dance

The excitement of getting ready for a dance recital (as long as it isn’t ME who is doing the dancing) is one of my FAVORITE THINGS.

This weekend was picture day for the dancers at the Swift Creek Academy for the Performing Arts - and Sarah and Leanna (my grandangels) were among the dancers who were looking their very best for the cameras.

My job in getting my grandangels ready for pictures and the recital is HAIR DUTY. Their mom does the make-up - it is definitely TEAMWORK all the way….just too much fun.

Sarah is getting curled and painted!!! Sarah is in three dances!