Love the bag Linda!
I leave in the morning for a retreat and should be in bed but just took mini pineapple upside down cakes out of the oven. I am packing my clothes while they cool and making sure I have everything I want to take. It won't be so bad though if I do forget something because the retreat center is about 10 minutes from my house! It will be great to have someone else preparing the meals and cleaning up afterward!
Have a great weekend everyone!

maryv

I'm trying to get some sandwiching and quilting done (read completing UFO's) while I'm in the mood for it. Plan to go looking for wide backing today that isn't too expensive but decent fabric, and stock up on it!

SharonG/FL

No sewing here! It is my birthday and family and friends are planning a "surprise" .
But I will be sharing with Daughters what I have done recently and what I am planning for the next few weeks. Input always welcomed.
Theresa

This post was edited by nannykins on Fri, Apr 26, 13 at 8:23

Thanks Mary. Good luck finding backing fabric Sharon! Let us know what you find. I am always on the look-out for wide backing.
Linda OH

Happy birthday, Theresa! Have fun with your surprise. :)

Mary, have fun on your retreat! My guild's retreat is this weekend, too, but I'm not going. Can't afford it and also can't see planning and packing a bunch of sewing stuff to drive across town to sew. I'm much happier in my sewing room! LOL

I just started a wall hanging this morning. Several years ago I bought 2 FQ bundles of Blank's magnolia fabrics. They had a free pattern on their website but I didn't have enough fabric for it, so I spent a long time designing a wall hanging in EQ. Finally settled on a design and put the whole shebang back in the project box. I decided it's finally time to make my magnolia quilt! :) Of course I ended up tweaking the design again. This morning I cut the pieces for the center and started sewing.

I also sewed my first 2 postage stamp squares together! LOL Only another squillion to go.

Donna

Happy Birthday Theresa...Do enjoy your Surprise!

Sounds like most of you have a fun weekend planned with sewing...lucky you!
Linda: cute bag...do take pics of the completed works!
Donna: a postage stamp quilt...oh my...that would try my patience. I'd love to see a pic of a block once you are ready to post.

The weather is going to be nice this weekend, so I hope to do a few garden flower pots. I may try to sneak in a bit of sewing...I need to paper piece a wine bottle and wine glass quilt block for the wine cellar quilt...I wonder if I will ever that thing assembled...wine seems to get in the way :-)
Enjoy your weekend,
V.

Should be, but off to S. Lake Tahoe for lunch with friends. Tomorrow Clay conference in Davis.

Maybe Sunday after gardening ;-)

I love Spring!
LindaB/CA

Ooh, V, where did you get a pp wine bottle & glass? I'd love one of those for my kitchen. :)

Donna

I do my postage stamp quilts in strips, because that is how I save a lot of my 'thrift' or recycled cottons. Rip them an inch and a half wide, sew them together with a quarter inch seam, and make it as long as whatever large block size I wish to handle, then take a straight edge and my rotary cutter and cut in one and a half inch strips the other way. If you work with smaller blocks, there won't be much repetition, and it can be well hidden in the body of the quilt. When I get a slew of these smaller strips of checkered inch squares, I then sew them again into blocks after mix them up randomly. It certainly takes the tediousness out of it, but then again it doesn't help you to rid yourself of tiny scraps.

Cool bag Linda. Happy b-day Theresa. Last weekend I weeded my entire large back yard flowerbed. This week I transplanted a variety of succulent cuttings into a large flowerpot on the front porch. Did some spring cleaning this week and that felt good. Sending some things to my church's spring garage sale as they are raising money for improvements to their park. Also cleaned out old fabrics that I have gotten from friends over the past few years and not knowing just how old the fabric is I did not want to use it in quilts so I donated it to my local library for their arts and crafts children activities a large 12" x 12" box overflowing and a walmart bag stuff with fabric. Probably going to spend my weekend cleaning house, embroidering pillowcases for my Grandma, and maybe do some more spring cleaning and maybe reorganize my sewing cabinets now that I have freed up a little space in them for future fabric.

Best to you,
Sandra

This post was edited by quiltingfox on Fri, Apr 26, 13 at 18:48

Love that bag, Linda. Yes, I am just finishing up on the Jewel box quilt. This is the first time I've tried taking the backing to the front as a binding..... and thankfully, it's been a very neat finish. Two sides done, two to go. Should be finished today. I used the thinest batting I could find, and it still weighs a ton. Must be all those seams.

Donna, I just goggled for a wine bottle and paper piecing and found Patchpieces, a fun spot with a variety of pp patterns. I hope to make it soon...not sure if it will happen this weekend, but soon.
Calliope, Of course your method for the postage stamp quilt makes sense and that is a good method for using the scrappy strips. I recently finished the garden trellis scrappy top on point and well....I like the result. I wasn't a scrappy fan initially, but after making the scrappy top, I've changed my mind. So with your technique, I have hope for postage stamp. Oh boy...nother project for the list!

Here is a link that might be useful: Patchpieces.com

Thanks, V! That's a neat site. That wine bottle block would make a great wine gift bag.

Calliope, I like your PS method. I'm doing mine the old-fashioned way (which may send me to the looney bin :D). I've been cutting 1-1/2" squares when I cut other things. I just started sewing some into pairs as a leader/ender project. My plan is to sew the pairs into 4 patches then put those together. I'm also planning for it to be a long-term project. LOL

Donna

Everyone's weekend sounds full and fun! Retreats, classes, birthday celebrations, sewing with friends or sewing in the quiet of your own space, sewing in general - wonderful plans.

Like Val - yard work is calling my name - we've had a sloooow start to Spring. I am not complaining, and send good thoughts to those in bad weather and affected by the recent tragic events.

I'm trying to figure out a way to keep the neighbors' cats from using my front garden as their private litter box! ick! I cut my Rose bushes and laid the thorny branches across the old mulch & that didn't even keep them away!

Sometime this weekend, I would like to sew a another step on the Quilt Along at Patchwork Times. I did get behind. I think they are finished and I am at Step 5. I am very behind on everything.

Val-Thanks for the PP link. That is a new site for me. PP is perfect for bonding with your new FW friend. :~)

Lindaoh - fun class - I bet you are a great Instructor. Great idea to get a big sub and bring side dishes. I need to remember that.

Since backing is way up there at the LQS, and since Walmart is only one gallon of gasoline away and Joann's is 3 gallons of gasoline, I opted to check out Walmart first. To my surprise, they had some great, wide backing fabric (even after washing)! I have a total of a little over 7 yd of bleached, unbleached and patterned TOT from 90" wide to 120" wide. $51 tax included. I don't consider this 'stocking up' but it will hold me for awhile. :-)

SharonG/FL

After embroidering 2 1/2 weeks on my Grandma's pillowcases I have come to the realization that I am not going to have them finished by Mother's Day, but am going to try to have them finished for her birthday in October or if not done by then then have them done for Christmas. So spent my afternoon hand-sewing quilt blocks for Christy's grandbaby quilt. I have not quilted since March, so I enjoyed quilting today. We have an RV trip coming up soon so I need to get busy and plan small quilting and crocheting projects to take with me as well as gather a couple good books for the trip. Has anyone read any of Marie Bostwick's Cobble Court Quilt series of novels?

Best to you,
Sandra

I am always quilting or piecing, every day or just about every day I make progress of some type - of course if I had kids or grandkids near by that wouldn't be happening.

Here is a link that might be useful: quilts...etc.

Magothyrivergirl - I know I've seen ideas on how to keep cats from using areas as their litter box, so I don't know if any of these would help:

-There are a number of household foods that felines absolutely detest. Some of these products include orange peels, coffee grounds, and cayenne pepper. Create a mixture in a large cup using any three or all three of these ingredients adding water to make a solution. Take this crazy concoction and sprinkle along the perimeter of the sandbox play area and the cat will turn nose and tall away once he or she gets a whiff of this new barrier. You will have to re-apply this solution every few days due to wearing away by rain and the sun.

-One of the best devices available for keeping cats out of the sandbox or even yard is a water sprinkler triggered by a motion sensor. These devices can be found online and are one of the most humane ways of keeping cats out of the yard. A few soakings of cold water will be enough to deter the neighborhood cat from urinating or burying fecal matter in the sandbox, garden or even yard.

-Line the outer edges of your sandbox with tinfoil. Tinfoil is shiny, makes a funny noise and slippery. Cats do not like to walk or stand on tinfoil and will avoid it if they get the chance.

-Place a row of garden basil around your sandbox on all four edges. The row should be short enough so that your children can step over it. Cats do not like the smell of basil and will avoid areas where it is planted.

I don't know if any of those are useful for you but they were things I would not have thought of!
Karlene

Happy birthday, Theresa!

Love the bag, Linda.

I got to spend all day yesterday in the sewing room. Got a wall hanging ready for the binding only to find they didn't give me enough fabric. So that went back on hold.

I also start another block of the month type quilt, but this one is all done on the embroidery machine. I have a class next Saturday and have one more block to do before then. They give us 12 blocks to do in a month.

I also was able to get a few items embroidered for the business and picked up a few more items to embroider this week. I'm glad business is starting to pick up finally!

Today I'm working on the quilting challenge wall hanging. I'm actually making progress, finally!

Robbi

Calliope - I just saw this method for making random small squares and thought this could easily be adapted for making a postage stamp quilt.

Here is a link that might be useful: strip-piecing trick

Yes......thanks for posting that. I figure out what size block I want to work with, and it's usually 12" and sew twelve fabric strips together, cut them in the opposite direction to make twelve strips of twelve fabric blocks and then sew them together again randomly to make twelve inch blocks. I find if I work with sections much longer than that, the blocks start to get wonky and stretch and one cannot fudge on one inch blocks easily without that being pretty noticeable. Last weekend, after finishing my jewel box quilt, I started making HSTs for a Depression Block quilt. I don't think I'll start assembling them until I get enough of the HSTs made to do the whole quilt. I'm busy with house and gardening projects and doing that type of piecework is easily picked up and put down without gnawing at me. LOL