Ruler Review and a New BOM

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Lori

Are you terrified that perhaps the apocalypse is upon us because I’ve posted more than one time in a week, lol? Never fear…just trying to catch up on some things I’ve been meaning to update you on and I thought one LOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNGG post would be über boring.

So, a few months ago, I did something I swore I wouldn’t do again…and signed up for another block of the month club Now, I swore these off in 2011 when I had just started quilting the year before and went a little, well how shall we say it, …batsh*t crazy signing up for BOM clubs? Oh my goodness, I may never finish some of them. I still have one of the FQ shop christmas ones to do. Bad Lori… And I did a good job of not signing up for more until 2 months ago. Have you seen this quilt by Julie Hermann from Jaybird Quilts?Oh, if not, you have GOT TO click on the link above or on the picture and go to her blog and look at how beautiful this quilt is. I fell in love with it immediately, so imagine how simply ecstatic I was when Fat Quarter Shop started offering it as a block of the month! They recommended you buy Julie’s ruler, the Hex N More. Now, I love new toys as much as the next girl, so I said, heck yeah…sign me up and send me the ruler too The ruler is pictured above or you can click on the link and go see it on Julie’s blog.

I’m always a bit skeptical about rulers for this and rulers for that, but after trying this ruler this past weekend…I AM SOLD! I will probably never use another ruler for triangles again. My triangles have never looked so pretty or had their little points line up so easily. Wow Julie, you sure got it right with this one. I “heart” it

Not only does this baby make 60 degree triangles, it makes hexagons, half hexagons, and “jewels“. I’ve linked each of them so if you click on the word, it will take you right to Julie’s blog and you can see the instructions for cutting each shape. I’m telling you…easy peasy! You’ll love it!

So far I’ve finished months 1 & 2 and am eagerly awaiting the arrival of month 3. Look at me all caught up and all, lol.

Fun huh? If you’re in the market for a new multi-purpose ruler, I highly suggest you give it a try! I want to say I paid $23.95 through Fat Quarter shop. Enjoy!

And I “might” have signed up for another block of the month too… :-0

Farmer’s Wife – May blocks

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Lori

I was running a bit behind with the May blocks due to all the golden drama at our house, but I managed to complete them before the middle of June (that still counts right???? )

Here they are:

Individually they are #96 – Tulip#91 – Strawberry Basket#74 – Ribbons#23 – Country Farm

#1 – Attic Windows

So, now I just need to get started on the June blocks since it’s now June 17th…eek Here are pics of Mom’s blocks as well!

Attic Window:

Mom’s

Country Farm: Ribbons:Strawberry Basket: and Tulip is missing. That’s it for the May blocks. June blocks coming soon

Life Update – $$$ aka Bubba Jr.

Posted on June 16, 2013 by Lori

Notice the $$ signs? His royal golden self has been quite a project since the beginning of May. Bubba Jr had surgery on May 17th to repair his torn ACL on his good leg. It was a rough weekend, but he did pretty darned good for an old golden man. The next week was spent trying to convince him to eat. He had no appetite whatsoever. I cooked for him, we tried all kinds of “low-brow” dog foods that as a veterinarian just made me shudder. Apparently he has very discerning tastes, but by Friday the 24th we were eating dog food again and I was no longer getting this “look” when I said it was time to eat!

And then, I went out of town for 36 hours to speak in Toledo and everything fell apart. Jim called me Thursday morning to say he wouldn’t eat and I figured it was just because I was gone and had been at his golden beck and call for the last month. I got home really late Thursday night and couldn’t get him to eat. Then the vomiting started. By Friday we were in ICU and he spent the weekend there with vomiting and bloody diarrhea (sorry if TMI). I honestly thought we were going to lose him that weekend. But my old man rallied and I brought him home Sunday night with his catheter still in place so I could give him fluids at home.

Since then, it’s been a steady battle, but we’ve been moving in the right direction slowly but surely. The first week we spent fighting to get him eating (I’ve done more cooking in the last month then in the last year…guaranteed, lol). You’ve never seen two dog parents get so excited about normal poop! The first day we didn’t have diarrhea was a milestone, then the day we didn’t have blood, another milestone, then solid poop…well, that was a reason for a par-tay!

For the last week, golden boy has been good. Happy, wagging, and acting like Bubba again. I still can’t get him to eat dog food, but he loves anything with beef or bread. He’s lost almost 13 pounds since the end of April and he didn’t have 13 to lose, so I figure, he’s an old man, we’ve already beaten the golden odds at 13…he can eat whatever he pleases. The current choice is white bread with Beneful Beef Stew. We are operating a Bubba Buffet. His discerning golden tastes no longer like anything involving turkey and chicken…sigh. He “might” have my number…I have lots to update you on quilting wise as well! With so much time at home with the old guy, I have finished the Montana quilt (yeah!!!), finished my May Farmer’s Wife blocks, finished the first 2 months of the Toes in the Sand block of the month club, and started on my Wind in the Whiskers block of the month club. So stay tuned for more updates! I just wanted to dedicate this post solely to Bubba since you guys have all been so sweet checking on him

Happy Father’s Day to everyone! Bubba Jr got his daddy a special card that he intends to give to him later. More soon!

Life Update with a Little Quilting

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Lori

It has been what we’re lovingly referring to the week of Bubba The old golden boy has been at work with me every day and on Friday we had our follow-up with the neurologist and the orthopedic surgeon. The good news is that it looks like we’re dealing with strictly a torn ACL (right rear leg) instead of neurologic issues which is a blessing. So, I have an abdominal ultrasound and chest films scheduled for Thursday to check for any evidence of cancer in liver, spleen or lungs and if everything is clean…well then, Jim and I have made the decision to move forward with his surgery. He’ll have a 6 week recovery time and he and I will go to physical therapy twice weekly during that time. However, age is not a disease, so if he’s in good shape otherwise, there’s no reason not to try. We may have 6 months, we may have a year, we may have 2…who the heck knows? I figure at 13, we’ve already beaten the “golden odds”, lol. The furbabies are our children, so we are blessed to be in a position to do this for him if he’s otherwise healthy. I’m very thankful for that!

Speaking of which…guess who turned 13 on Thursday? Yep! This gorgeous golden boy who we’re now lovingly calling “that sun room we were planning to build this summer” Love you Bubba Jr!

Bubba Jr. snoozing!

So, in the evening while the king is resting, I’ve been trying to do a little bit of quilting each day on the Montana quilt. Notice I say “trying”….

This seems to be the Moose’s new hang out. He LOVES this quilt. I kid you not, I find him on it all the time and am constantly pushing him off of it so he doesn’t cause it to drag when I’m moving it through the machine. This was after a recent “repositioning” when I picked him up and put him on the chair beside me. You can see how long that lasted.So far, with the exception of stitching in the ditch along the major seam lines to hold things in place, this has all be free motion quilting. Scarlett is a dream to quilt with and that throat space is awesome!!!! I’ve tried to stitch around the rock like items in the panels, outline the bears, quilt “fur” that mimics the way the fur looks on the bears. It’s just a quilt for us to snuggle under and remember our time in Montana, so it doesn’t have to be award-winning. I’ve been having fun with it and it takes my mind off worrying about the Bubs for a bit.You can kind of see the devil lurking in there can’t you? Well, time to go feed the crew. The golden boy hasn’t been eating so I have chicken and sweet potatoes cooking for his golden royalness right now. Hope you guys have a fantastic week!

Done With April!

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Lori

I’ve been absent. April was a blur, a complete and utter blur. Dad was in the hospital, I had my annual veterinary dermatology conference, got sick, fought it for a week, then it turned into pneumonia and for the first time in my entire life I missed a full week of work. To say I’m over it…well, that might just be an understatement I am finally starting to feel better, but my energy is low and I’m left with this wheezing cough. My albuterol inhaler is my new BFF. It became even more difficult now that my old golden boy is having some real issues. We’re not sure if it’s orthopedic or neurologic, or a combination of the two, but I know hard decisions are ahead and I’m dreading the day. Why can’t they live as long as we do? So frustrating, especially as a veterinarian when you feel you should at least be able to fix your own… We spent some time in the grass just enjoying the sun yesterday. Moments like these are precious.

Bubba Jr – May 2013

So, let’s play a little catch up. Here’s what I managed to accomplish this last month. Not a lot, but still progress I finished my April Farmer’s Wife blocks. I actually beat Mom this month, lol. I think she still has one to finish.

April 2013 FW blocks

In other news, the Montana quilt (LONG on my list of WIPs) is finally pieced…Pinned (thank you Moose for all the help…)And ready to quilt I have high hopes for getting some quilting done today. At least the stitch in the ditch part to secure some seams, that is if I can get the cats off of it long enough. This beast is 74×100. It’s the biggest one I’ve ever tried to quilt at home and the first quilt I’ve ever pin basted versus spray basted. We’ll see how it goes. I anticipate getting irritated with having to continually stop and unpin. I know it’s going to take a while to quilt though and trying to maneuver it for spray basting was going to be a bear.

Here’s wishing everyone a peaceful week!

Q1 FAL Report

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Lori

Time to face the music and link up with my Q1 Finish-A-Long report over at She Can Quilt with Leanne.

It’s fun watching all the links come up and seeing what everyone accomplished! Here we go:

1. First up – the Montana QuiltI’m just going to show you this picture, because getting the borders on and finishing the quilt was a big, fat FAIL in Q1. The quilt top is sitting right where I left it. I did look at it a few times…does that count?? However, I am not giving up and she’s going to roll over into the Q2 goals. I’m going to delude myself and say it was fate and that I’m going to finish the quilt the same time of year as when I started it after our Montana trip last year (and I have a patch of land with oil under it if you buy that one ).

2. Goal 2 – Finish 15 more Farmer’s Wife blocks with Mom – DONE!!! We are trucking right along and have completed a total of 25 blocks so far! Such fun Here they are:

Jan 2013 FW blocks

Feb 2013 FW blocks

March 2013 FW Blocks

3. Last but not least – I signed up to participate in my first ever blog hop show casing a new Amy Bradley pattern. DONE! I managed to meet the deadline, participate, and thoroughly enjoyed meeting a bunch of new quilters that came to visit my site along with discovering several new bloggers to follow! She hangs in my poor, mess of a sewing room/office right now. She makes me smile

So, that’s it for me…what’s the saying? Two out of three ain’t bad? LOL. Here’s to finishing the Montana quilt in Q2!!!

Let the Sun Shine!

Posted on March 31, 2013 by Lori

It was a wonderful week here! It started out with 8 inches of snow between Sunday night and Monday (which brought lots of cursing from me) but on Wednesday, I headed down to see the parents in Florida for Dad’s birthday. Gorgeous there!!!! This is what greeted me Mom is so ingenious with decorating…everything is always beautiful and perfect. This is chalkboard paint on the back of their door…how cool is that? Definitely something I want to do. Thursday Mom and I had mani/pedi’s and then we all steamed crab for dinner. It was such a relaxing day. I may have come back completely spoiled. Dad cooked breakfast for me every day…sigh! It was heaven! Note the polish on the nails? The husband might not recognize me, lol.

Friday was Dad’s birthday and he was 70…again Apparently we stop counting at 70 and just celebrate that one over and over. We headed to Tarpon Springs where they have this awesome little sponge dock with silly touristy type shops. They have this one really cool soap shop though called Lori’s (of course it’s cool right?) where they make goats milk soap and olive oil soap. The goats milk soaps come with little sponges or loofahs set into the soap and they smell soooooo good! After that, we had dinner at a greek restaurant, Hella’s.Aren’t they just the cutest? We had this really sweet waitress named Peggy and she brought Dad a chocolate eclair with a candle in it Of course there was singing and drinking as well!And then, for the grand finale….on Saturday, Mom and I traveled to Rainbow’s End Quilt Shoppe to meet Katie of Katie’s Quilting Corner. What a treat! I felt like I knew her already from texting, emailing, and following her podcast from the beginning, but she’s even more lovely in person than she seems to be on her podcast. In case you’re confused, from left to right: Katie, me, and Mom We had a lot of fun shopping and then went to brunch at a little restaurant in Dunedin. I wish I had been visiting longer because I really would have loved to have met the Corgi crew and had more time to chat. Next time hopefully!

We all did a little damage, but somehow I managed to buy the most…the one person who doesn’t live there. How does that happen? LOL. Here are some of the fat quarters I picked up. I also found this über fun print called “Face Woof”. Yes, I know…I’m a geek and what will I ever do with it? But how could I not???I’ve also been in love with the grey/green prints from Simply Color by V & Co. for Moda for a while, so I figured a little pack should come home with me. They look like a standard Florida souvenir don’t you think?So, I didn’t get any sewing done this week, but I did manage to get a picture of all of Mom’s Farmer’s Wife blocks. I forgot mine I was so looking forward to laying both of ours out together side by side. We’ve done 25 so far!

That’s it for my week! Not much sewing, but such a wonderful week with friends and family. Now I’m back in Indiana and ready for spring. Hope you all had a great week!

Throw Me A Bone!

Posted on March 24, 2013 by Lori

Dear Mother Nature, REALLY??????? C’mon! This is what we woke up to this morning. There’s about 2.5 inches on the ground with predictions ranging now from 6-10″ by the end of the day. I feel like I’m in the movie Groundhog Day. I swear if I saw that little rat right now, we’d have an intervention!

I can honestly remember a time when I liked the snow and the cold weather. Being cozied up inside a warm house, watching the snow fall…it all seemed very peaceful. Now that I have these outdoor critters, I worry a lot more about cold temperatures.

Don’t even get me started about the little cat that hangs out on our porch. She has a gourmet diva cat house to snuggle in surrounded by big bales of hay (yes…our porch looks like red neck central right now), but I still lose sleep over her while my other kitties are snuggled away warm in their inside beds. I know I can’t take them all in, and honestly, four cats inside is plenty…especially when they all start sneezing. Speaking of the feline plague, everyone is better here…except Simon. Poor Simey….he’s the one that I thought had the toughest immune system, but he’s hanging onto it the longest. Poor little guy…might be his age, I’m not sure. Regardless, he’s still happy to sneeze in your face, but at least he’s eating and not looking as pathethic.On the quilting front, I’m afraid I don’t have a ton to report this week. I did get all of my March Farmer’s Wife blocks finished. Hard to believe I am actually ahead of Mom right now…that may be the first time since we’ve started this that I’m in the lead However, it’s only because she’s hard at work on sewing new curtains for dad’s boat, lol. I’m headed down to Florida to celebrate Dad’s birthday this week. Can’t wait to see their bright, smiling faces (note to the weather man – please, some sun????? I don’t care if it’s 80 degrees, but above 30 and sunny would make Lori very happy!)

Mom & Dad

Aren’t they adorable???? Mom just bought a new sewing machine ( a Juki) and I can’t wait to see it and learn all about it! I’m not very familiar with Juki’s but the reviews look good. I think it’s the F600? I’m going to try and get some pics of our FW blocks laid out together which I think will be super cool. Oh! And I’m really hoping to road trip and meet Katie while I’m there. I wish I was going to be there long enough to meet the Corgi’s but this is going to be a quick trip for Dad’s birthday.

So, here are my blocks for March for the Farmer’s Wife quilt. I’m branching out from the usual Moda Etching’s line (can you tell I am desperate for spring from my color choices?) LOL. Sorry for the poor lighting. It was late, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it

March 2013 FW Blocks

This one is kind of fun. Mom and I bought have a fat eighth of this fabric with various quilt blocks listed and we agreed to each incorporate it into our quilt. This is the way I chose to do that since this block had such a nice open area for fussy cutting.Farmer’s puzzle might be my favorite though So, that’s it for me for this week. I’d like to think that I’ll get some sewing done today while it’s icky and gross outside, but I have a ton of stuff to do to get ready to leave and go see the parents Here’s hoping wherever you are this weekend is warm and sunny!

The Week From Hell

Posted on March 10, 2013 by Lori

Wow, what a week. I would like to not repeat this week anytime soon! Here’s how it went:

Tuesday: another snow storm (5 inches) and loss of power from 2:30-8:30 a.m. Edward (pictured above) is a total freak due to the flickering of lights occasionally during that 6 hour window and lies on top of me shaking like a freight train the entire time. Let’s keep in mind that I have to be at an equine event exhibiting for my clinic at 8:00 Weds morning shall we? Sometime during this time, Lucy sneezes…twice.

Wednesday: 5 inches of snow on the ground, no power, I am getting ready for this equine trade show without a shower, trying to make myself presentable via the light of my phone and the window…not pretty. Lucy is now sneezing more…much more. I send the husband out to feed the horses because in my lovely boot (remember the broken heel?) I’m not so great in the snow. I also send him over to the neighbor’s house to feed her 2 horses because she’s in her 60′s with a bad hip and doesn’t need to be fighting the snow either. I’m walking out the door, looking not so pretty, and Jim comes back to tell me that the neighbor’s oldest horse is dead in the barn Now, the poor guy was 30 years old and it’s been a tough winter, but it’s never an easy thing to have happen. So, call our neighbor, deliver the horrible news, and then off to the event. Yep, that’s me below with my hair pulled up looking über lovely…oy! Do you love the coat hanging in the background? Note to self…next time look behind you before having someone snap a picture. Sigh…Thursday: Wake up to more sneezing (enter Emmie and Simon) and it becomes obvious that we have a full-blown upper respiratory infection running through the cats in the house. Damn! This stuff is like the plaque. Lucy feels horrible because she has the worst lungs of the group. I rescued her when someone tried to drown her and her 4 siblings when she was only 10 weeks old…so to say she’s respiratory challenged to begin with would be an understatement. Now she feels really crappy, running a fever, snotty, and doesn’t want to eat. Go down to feed the other cats and Moose, aka the bad kitty, has diarrhea. Nice…ok, I’m a veterinarian…forget that I specialize in dermatology for the love of pete, but I can handle this. Load up a stool sample, and off to the clinic I go. Results back at 10 p.m. – Moose has Giardia. Whaaa Whaaa,… winner winner, chicken dinner!

Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner

Friday: Surely we’re done with the week right? I have 2 doctors appts, one for the heel and one for annual bloodwork, and then I’m off to pick up medicine for all four cats for the upper respiratory infection and medication for Mr. Moose to treat the Giardia. The good news – my bone is remodeling so I’m cleared for non-weight bearing exercise and remain in the boot for another 3 weeks. The bad news…pilling and medicating 4 cats, 2-3 times per day with medicine that tastes horrible. Yeah, I have the scars to prove it.

I feel certain that today has to be the start of a better week. Lucy and Emmie are still feeling puny (Lucy is the worst, poor thing is downright pathetic), but Moose feels good enough to bite me and Simon has been exposed to upper respiratory infections so many times (he spent his first year of life in the clinic with me as a clinic cat when I was in general practice) that his immunity is pretty darned good.

Despite all this insanity that would drive any normal person to drink, I DID actually get some things accomplished on the quilty and crafty side of things this week. Yeah me! First up, my little tumbler table topper made out of a charm pack of Vintage Modern (by Bonnie & Camille for Moda), is quilted and just waiting for me to finish hand stitching the binding! I love it and need a little spring right now. I really don’t mind springing forward with the time change because let’s be honest, I don’t sleep a lot any way…but I would REALLY like some warmer weather and sunshine over here. That’s what the little table topper is supposed to be for me It’s smaller than I anticipated and will shrink some more when I wash it, but I still love it. It makes me smile.

I also finished a little Easter wool applique that I started last March. It’s an Easter bunny…he’s cute!And last but not least, I had ordered some of the cotton fabric lawn printable sheets from Electric Quilt for a memory quilt I’m working on. I’ve used printable fabric before but haven’t been extremely pleased with the quality of it. So, this cotton lawn fabric got great reviews as did the TAP (transfer artist paper). I ordered some of both and am planning on experimenting to see which I like best. However, when I was on the Electric Quilt site, I just happened across these add-ons called “Stash“…how have I never heard about these before????? If you use Electric Quilt to design quilts at all, these are a must have! I have EQ 7 and although I don’t get to play nearly as much as I would like, these are da’bomb! The CDs are released twice a year (spring and fall) and contain swatches from various manufacturers and fabric designers, from the entire line of each person’s fabric. I purchased the Fall 2011 and the Spring 2012. The Fall 2011 has over 6400 fabrics from 25 different manufacturers (Moda, Michael Miller Fabrics, Northcott, Robert Kaufman, etc). Spring 2012 has over 5800 fabrics from 22 manufacturers (Island Batiks, Moda, Free Spirit, Riley Blake, etc). Now, you know my love affair with Vintage Modern, Ruby, and the other fabrics by Bonnie & Camille….imagine how fun it is for me to design quilt blocks or entire quilts and NOW be able to drop the exact fabrics in???? Some might call it heaven

Vintage Modern in EQ 7 – Stash Spring 2012

So, that pretty much wraps it up for me. Today is Sunday and other than a trip to the grocery store to get ready for the week, I intend to stay home and sew. I have 5 more Farmer’s Wife blocks to do for the month of March to stay on track and I’m looking forward to spending some time planning the memory quilt I’m going to work on. I hope you guys had a much less drama filled week!

A Week of Finishes

Video

Well, this was a productive week! I really enjoyed the fact that life settled down a bit and allowed me to get some sewing time in My top finish of the week was my little version of “ME” created for the “It’s All About ME!” blog hop featuring the pattern by Amy Bradley and hosted by Madame Samm. This was my first blog hop and I really enjoyed working on my project, but even more, enjoyed looking at everyone else’s creations each day. I even met some new bloggers who are a little animal “crazy” like me! Here’s my finished version hanging in my office/sewing room. I kind of love her!Next up were some birthday presents for a relative. We were supposed to meet on Friday but she was sick, so she’ll get these sometime later this week. A little mug rug made from the Amelia fabric line and a little kitchen towel that was embroidered by Scarlett (my 830).

This was my first time using a “topper” (aquafilm) on embroidery. I’ve been reading that it helps with the stitches and helps them to not sink into the towel. I think I liked it and will definitely try it again in the future.

At one point, I had both girls going. Scarlett was embroidering the towel and I was piecing and quilting the mug rug on Bernie, the 440. Jim said the whole house was shaking, lol. I told him I needed a different table for Scarlett and he said I needed a different house…wonder what he meant? Once those were finished, I got down to business and finished up my Farmer’s Wife blocks for February. I am finally caught up!!!!!! (take that mom ) Here are my 5 blocks for February. I’m loving this quilt. The original thought was to make it out of all of my stash, but I’m so in love with the Etchings fabric (that was in my stash to begin with I swear!) that now I kind of want to focus on those colors for the entire quilt. We’ll see There are a few other fabrics I’ve worked in that weren’t from the Etchings line, but I think I will stay with that overall color scheme.I like all of them but I think Checkerboard (top left) and Butterfly at the Crossing (middle of the top row) are my favorite. In other news, I’m now sporting a very snazzy addition to my wardrobe. I managed to break my heel and will be wearing this sexy thing for the next 6-8 weeks. Kind of puts a cramp in my plans to run a 5K in April and certainly threw a wrench into restarting my riding lessons I had finally gotten lined up. Grrrr!

So, it was a busy week here with lots of progress on various projects! Bubba Jr was exhausted by the end of it What did you finish this week?