Shirley Anne’s Heart

Posted By drsao on May 18, 2008

What a title for this blog entry…..but I guess I have a lot to share. 

I have been having LOTS OF FUN….Saturday, May 17, has been a very good day.

DEAR JANE QUILT

We had our first DEAR JANE  QUILT SUPPORT GROUP (uhm…I think we are calling it a CLUB) meeting at Quilter’s Corner May 15.  It is going to be lots of fun.  I am motivated and in love with all of these tiny blocks.  It was fun to see what other people had done…….my friend Sheddy had made some VERY IMPRESSIVE BLOCKS (a TOTAL OF twenty!!) including a block with a star with points so small that I cannot even imagine how she did that! 

Here is what I have done so far…. and BTW I also got motivated to put my PRACTICE blocks (RED AND WHITE) into plastic sleeves!  Now I just need to find a very cute CIVIL WAR type of notebook to put the plastic sheets into!

So left to right….A-6 Uncle Homer, I-1 Ralph and Nelda’s Wedding and 1-2 Kaye’s Courtyard

(I love the names of these blocks!)

And here are the REAL ONES…

A-6 Uncle Homer

1-1 Ralph and Nelda’s Wedding

and I-2 Kaye’s Courtyard

The CLUB members are PREDICTING that I will stop making practice blocks after awhile…..HM…..stay tuned and we shall see…..:)  I think that I will end up with TWO Dear Jane Quilts – the REAL one and my PRACTICE red and white one!

BEACH RETREAT QUILT

MY BEACH RETREAT QUILT IS FINISHED.  🙂  I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE to cross a UFO off my TO DO LIST!!!  I went to an all day SIT N STITCH Friday at the Quilter’s Corner and I finished putting the binding on my BEACH RETREAT QUILT (designed by Susan Emory and I think she has a few kits left for sale at the QC!)  Cuddles TINKERBELLE (our baby cat) promptly perched on the quilt – giving it her stamp of approval.  🙂

There is something about yellow and blue that is just absolutely comforting – dreamy!!  Cuddles TINKERBELLE does not want to give up her position on the new quilt! 

Cats are just DELIGHTFUL WONDERFUL furry people.  They are so affirming and giving.  I bet that I would get an UNCONDITIONAL DISPLAY of LOVE for a less than beautiful quilt (hopefully I will never get a chance to test that theory!)

BROWNIES

And now – my PROUDEST MOMENT on my list of today’s accomplishments is that I SEWED ALL OF THE PATCHES ON GRANDANGEL SARAH’S BROWNIE VEST……and just in the nick of time (she becomes a GIRL SCOUT ON May 27.)

I love Sarah, I love the Brownies and I used to be one!  HOWEVER, sewing those patches on is sheer torture and has to be included on my LIST OF NOT SO FAVORITE THINGS.  So count the number of patches on this vest and multiply each of the patches times about 8 or 9 and you will know how many HOLES are in my fingers! 

Now – if someone out there would like to win the favor, admiration and LOVE of mothers and grandmothers of BROWNIES, GIRL SCOUTS and BOY SCOUTS around the world……please invent a way to get these VERY THICK – HARD TO GET A NEEDLE THROUGH patches onto vests or sashes WITHOUT SEWING! 

COFFEE AND TEA

I really had fun tonight – I tea dyed some white fabric blocks – LIPTON regular tea – 3 bags!  I have been dying (:)) to do this for the longest time and as a reward for getting the BROWNIE PATCHES SEWN ON…..I took a tea dyeing break.

Here are my 8 blocks hanging up to dry on my ironing board.  I am very happy with them – I think they will go into my SPLIT NINE-PATCH ONLINE SWAP BLOCKS!

And since I was having TOO MUCH FUN I decided to dye some white blocks using COFFEE mixed with my daughter, Christi’s,  LIQUID INTERNATIONAL BRAND FRENCH VANILLA CREAMER (I drink my coffee black – so I had to use hers!)  The blocks turned out to be really CUTE – a nice soft creamy color.  This activity really made me smile – and the blocks smell nice too!  I mean they smell – REALLY – REALLY – good!  Maybe it was the combination of that MAJOR DICKINSON PEET’S COFFE combined with the FRENCH VANILLA…….I think someone should invent a potpourri from this combination!

SARAH’S FIRST CAT QUILT

Sarah – my 8 year old grandangel – told me that FOR SOME REASON – SHE DIDN’T KNOW WHY – she had an urge to make a quilt.  WHOO HOO….I was so excited!  I can’t even tell you HOW excited I was.  SHE WANTED TO MAKE A CAT QUILT for her Webkinz animals.  She said she wanted it to be very wide so that several of her WEBKINZ friends could snuggle under it together.

I gave her some 3 1/2″ square white blocks ironed onto freezer paper and Sarah climbed up on my bed and began to draw some of her favorite  cats on the  white blocks.  (Patsy – thank you SO MUCH for the DONATED GIFT of those white blocks that you gave me on Saturday!!!!!)

   

Then I pulled out my 50 EXTRA four patches of 2″ squares (thank you Bonnie Hunter) and let Sarah choose some for her quilt….she alternated Cat Blocks with four-patches and she pinned the blocks onto paper making sure that the darks and the lights were all lined up the way that she liked!

I let Sarah use my Brother DUETTA sewing machine (MY DREAM MACHINE) – she thought it was a little scarry trying to keep the quarter inch seam straight – but I put on the walking foot and she liked the way it WALKED along over the seams!  (You can tell she is tense – look at her pursed lips!)

 

I let Sarah press her seams using a pressing cloth (I didn’t want her to scorch her first quilt!)  She REALLY enjoyed the pinning, the sewing and the pressing!!

Sarah EVER SO CAREFULLY sewed all of the blocks together and then she chose  a 2 1/2″ border from some leftover binding that I had!  This is how far we got at bedtime.

I am going to have her sandwich the batting and the back and do the quilting on the machine (let’s just HOPE that I can remember what I learned in my MACHINE QUILTING CLASS!)  🙂

This was a VERY GOOD DAY………I love doing NEW THINGS (dyeing material) and MAKING MEMORIES (Sarah’s First Cat Quilt) and I also LOVE crossing things off my TO DO LIST – so I guess that means I enjoyed sewing on the BROWNIE PATCHES TOO?

Categories: Beach Retreat Quilt, Dear Jane Quilt, My NOT so Favorite Things, SAO's Grandangels, Sarah's First Cat Quilt
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