Retreat Time!!

Well, it is time for another retreat! We are going a day early this time. We normally go Fri-Sun but the place was booked on Sunday so we are going Thurs-Sat. We are heading out at 9:00 tomorrow morning and plan to go to a few quilt shops before getting to the retreat place. We can't check in until 1:00 so it all works out good. I am not as prepared as I normally am going to retreat. I've been working on projects on and off and just couldn't get around to cutting and prepping for the retreat so, I am just taking about 5 projects and will get done whatever I get done. First on the priority list is getting the wedding present done for my friend JoAnn, she got married Oct 5th so I am way behind but what else is new? I am also taking the material to do the Ohio State wall hanging that I am donating to my work for a silent auction they are having next month. I thought I had it pretty much done but not sewn together and then I realized I made the O for Ohio in the wrong color, it should be red and I made it black with a red border so I have to make a few more blocks and switch it around. Then I am taking another little Ohio State project that will also be donated. I am taking two baby blankets to work on and a bag that I am making for Mark's girlfriend. I hope I can get everything done! I have also picked up my knitting needles again. I told Rachel I was so happy to get to knit again, I do really love to knit but my hand just isn't as strong as it used to be so I can only do a little at a time, hopefully I can build up some strength over time. Jack is doing really well in his college classes. I am really proud of him, he has turned into a very good student and is acting very responsibly. He has been doing most classes on his own but I have been helping him with English Composition. They don't really teach kids about writing papers in high school any more, I don't know why because that is the first thing they have to do when they get to college! All they teach them now is how to pass the state test. Dave has been really busy with his Jeep, while I am gone this weekend he will be at a Jeep event so he has been getting ready for that. He just put a new light bar on the top so I am sure there will be some night rides in the future. Mark is also doing well in school. He is getting those credits knocked out. He usually has two classes going at once, they are shorter classes and they have classes that start each month so hopefully he can get done within the next year. I think he is trying to find a hospitality job in Lompoc, I hope he can get one. He is still very much into his Anime and he found a girlfriend who also likes it so that is good. I made a big splurge about 3 weeks ago, I bought a sit down long arm quilter! I have been waiting for it to come in to the shop so I can go pick it up. I am so excited to be able to quilt my own quilts, I should make the money up for it after I quilt about 30 quilts! LOL. I have quite a stack building and I hope it will come in next week. I have to move my room around to accomodate it and I might have to kick Dave out of the big room so I can have more space but we will see, I kind of like my little room. Okay, got to finish packing, below are some projects that I am working on.

This is the center piece of the quilt I am making for JoAnn. It is in the log cabin style.

These are the leftover strips that I have that I am going to make the borders for JoAnn's quilt. I have sewn them together end to end and this is the pile on the floor as I am rolling them up.

This is the roll of strips. What I will do now is find the halfway point of the roll and cut it then sew the strips side by side, cut that in half and so on until I get a patchwork made with the strips. This will be added to the top and bottom of the centerpiece to give it the length it needs. The quilt should end up being 60"Wx80"L

This is the Ohio State O that I made wrong, tells you how much of a fan I am right? I've bought some green and yellow and am going to make an Oregon O for Britney.

This is my knitting. This is going to be a washcloth. I have a bunch of different verigated yarn. I bought some really nice soap in Amish country and will put the two together to have little gifts to give out for Christmas.

This is the material I am going to use for Jaclyn's purse. It is really cute.

Memorial's and Pork Festival

It was a busy end of August and beginning of September. Rachel flew out before Labor Day and we drove to Missouri for Mom and Grandpa Branson's Memorial services. We met my dad and Uncle Jack there in Mt. Vernon. Grandpa's service was on Saturday, it was raining most of the day and there was a bit of drama because the place they had dug to place the ashes was no where near my Grandma's ashes. So, the service was held at the wrong spot and by the time we were ready to leave the coordinator for the graves had called out the workmen to dig the hole in the proper spot and he was laid to rest next to Grandma. He had a military service with the Army Honor Guard firing a salute and playing Taps. They also folded the flag and gave it to Dad since he was the oldest surviving son. It was a very nice ceremony. We also spent some time looking at places we had lived and other locations that brought back a lot of memories of my childhood in Missouri. On Sunday, the sun came out and it was a really beautiful day for laying Mom to rest, she was shinning on us that day. She was laid to rest in the Whittenburg family plot in the Ozark Prarie Cemetery also known as the "Brick Cemetery." Her mother and father are there as well as her grandmother and grandfather. We got a really pretty box to put her ashes in and we included pictures of the family, a porcelain shoe, and a People magazine, all her favorite things. We then went to eat at Golden Corral one of her favorite places to go. I think she's very happy now and I feel happier now knowing she is at rest. Rachel came back with us to Dayton and she and I went up to the Ohio Reformatory and to Amish country. We really had a good time in Amish country. We could have stayed another day I think but I don't think our waistlines would have recovered. They have some might delicious food there, if she could have smuggled a case of Fry Pies on the airplane I think she would have. I took her to several quilt shops there and some back down here. She got to go to the infamous Fabric Shack in Waynesville but I think we were most impressed with the Zinck's Fabric Warehouse we found in Berlin, OH. It is definetely a place I have to take Clarinda and Melissa, lots of good bargains there. I am still working on purple quilt for JoAnn's wedding. I've made several mistakes on it and I am losing my enthusiasm for it. I also need to finish the pink baby quilt. I just really need to get my butt in gear, it is going to be Christmas before I know it and I won't have anything done. I have a quilt retreat next month and I have to start thinking about what I want to take to work on. I'll probably cut and take the quilt for Beryl. Today was the annual Pork Festival in Eaton, OH. We had our buffet of pork and had a look around at the crafts. The meal was just as delicious as last year. The craft booths left a little to be desired though, it was almost like we stepped back to last year. All the vendors were in the same place with the same stuff so we just did a quick look around, I got a carmel apple and we came home. I got home in time to watch the end of the early football games so perfect timing. Jack's birthday was yesterday and we had got him tickets for the Bengals game so he was there today and thankfully they won. Well, that is all the catch up news. I am sorry I am taking a long time to post these days. I am still not sure how to post from my Ipad and this little notebook that I got from Jack is not the best running computer. Hopefully, I will get it figured out sooner or later. Here are some pictures to enjoy.

Grandma and Grandpa's grave.

Mom's grave.

Aunt Ruth (mom's sister), Rachel and me

Rachel and I at the Miller Fall Festival.

Rachel and I visited this castle near Cincinnati. It was built by an eccentric man. He built it with the help of some boy scouts. He built it with the stones from the nearby river and worked on it into his 90s.

Castle and terraced garden.

Castle courtyard.

Me and the castle.

Rachel and the castle.

Standing in line for the all-you-can eat buffet at the Pork Festival.

You really only need one plate for all-you-can eat!

Meal included homemade pie. This is blackberry.

Blue and Gray Take 5 Quilt is done!

I have been busy the past week and a half trying to get the blue and gray Take 5 quilt done. It has been one of the most difficult finishes I have had. This was my first flannel quilt and I don't think I will want to do another one any time soon. The flannel along the edge borders stretched and got out of shape so the binding would not go on properly, I had to cut the borders down just a bit to get it to lay flat. But finally got it done tonight. I was trying to get it done by last Friday because that was Airmen Sanchez's birthday and I have been making this for him because he really liked all of my other quilts and he wanted one for himself. He is about my boy's age as are most of the Airmen I work with so most days I feel like the mom of a bunch of kids. It has been washed and it is in the dryer right now so I am very happy that he will get it tomorrow. He is going to take me out to lunch on Thursday, that was my price for making it for him.

Here is the finished quilt. I am so happy that it is done. It is also one of the largest quilts I have done. I did the quilting myself on this one by just stitching in the seams around the blocks. I think it turned out very patch work-y.

These are some pictures of it while I was putting the binding on. As you can see it is a lot of quilt to be working on! I also finished a baby quilt for Dave's Jeep friend. It was a printed panel so all I had to do was sew around the edges of the borders and around the animals in the quilt. I put a pink satin binding on it to dress it up. It turned out really nice.

I also starting working on a floral red and black dragon quilt for my friend Michelle. She liked the dragon one I made for Mark so I used the same dragon but I am making it more feminine for her. I just have one large border and the square blocks to put around the edges and it will be ready to go to the long arm quilter.

Next project up is for my friend JoAnn, she is getting married in October so I am making her a quilt as a wedding present. She has purples and lilacs in her bedroom so I picked out a nice pattern with those and some other colors in it. The pattern is call Good Fortune and hopefully it will bring them good luck in the marriage. I am doing the pattern called Dora. It has the pattern between a solid rail, kind of looks like a window panel. I am really excited to get going on it.

I have an order from my friend Beth to make a wedding throw for her daughter. The wedding is in February so I have a little time to get it done. I have bought some fabric for it and settled on a pattern that I like. Her wedding colors are Ivory and Lapis (a blue purple color). The pattern is called the Waltz. I will take out the middle motif and put in their names and wedding date.

Well, that is the update for now. I am keeping very busy with all my projects. I have to start thinking about some birthday and Christmas gifts. I may already be behind the power curve for this year...

Sorry it has been a little while since I posted. Trying to learn how to do things on the iPad. I couldn't figure out how to transfer my pictures from my phone. I have it figured out now. So the room is getting put to good use. I have finished the baby quilt I was working on for Dave's Jeep buddy. I started working on the red and black floral dragon quilt for my friend Michelle but have put it aside to work on the blue and gray take 5 quilt for the Airmen at work, I found out that his birthday Friday so it is making me get it done, no more procrastination! Clarinda and I went to our usual shops last Saturday. This Saturday we a going to look at some new shops in Cincinnati. Dave has a Jeep Jam to go to so it is a good weekend to look at something new. I am not sure air Melissa is going with us. Tomorrow night I am hosting another purse party. Mostly to show off my new craft room :) I have a few ladies coming over so that will be fun. Well I just tried to upload pictures and it is not going to let me. Hopefully I can figure this out and get them posted.

Updates

I've been quite busy with work tasks. I'll be glad when the next few days are over so I can catch up with my regular work. I have not done much crafting either. I worked on the baby blanket, sewing around the panel lines. I am waiting on the frame to come so that I can roll all the layers together and quilt some of the animals so they will stand out some. Then I will just need to bind it. The frame I am getting will allow me to do some free motion quilting with my current machine. I hope it turns out as well as they show it in the instructional video. It will be fun to try doing the quilting myself although it won't be the fancy stitching of the long arm quilter. I am certainly enjoying my new room. I've already had my first sewing guest over. Melissa came on Saturday and she got a binding sewn on and work on a baby quilt using the disappearing 9-patch pattern.

This is the pattern I bought to make a quilt for Beryl. I was going to do something different but then saw this with the British Union Jack so of course I have to make it for her - Limey that she is..

Beryl loves purple so these are the materials that I am going to use. In the pattern you can see they did each flag different but I am going to do them all the same. I am excited to get started on it but I have to finish up the other three that I am working on.

This is my son Mark and his new girlfriend Jaclyn. I am so happy he has found someone and they seem really well suited.

Here are our remaining children still at home...LOL

This is my new iPad. I gave Jack my laptop for school and wanted a tablet. I got the Ipad and a neat carrier that has a key pad built in for it. I like it very much the only thing I have to figure out is how to save my photos from my phone so that I can post to this blog. I am currently using the little notepad that was Jacks to post this and it is quite slow. On that note, I will say bye for now and will hopefully have more to post in the upcoming days.

New Room!!!

My new room is complete!! I haven't had time to post to the blog because I have been moving things and putting stuff away. I think I finally have things set up the way I want it. It is still a bit messy but I'll get things put away by the end of the week. The floor turned out beautiful but now it makes the kitchen floor look bad so we will have to do something about that. The table turned out a little larger than we had thought it would so not as much room left as we were imagining in our heads but it is a great table and I can't wait to get one of the big quilts on it. Today David moved my felt design wall. This is the wall you see in my other pictures where the quilts are hanging. I just had felt tacked up on the walls and some plastic hooks to hang the quilts on. Now I have a nice framed felt wall and it looks great! I just have to figure where to put the hooks, I might get some of the clear ones. I haven't really worked on anything. I have a baby quilt going for Dave's friend but other than that I haven't done anything in about a week. I need to get the backings done for the Take 5 and the Yellow and Black so I can finally finish them up. Here are some pictures of the room:

Here is the big table. This is two dressers back to back and 3 IKEA table tops which Dave put together and then 4 IKEA legs. At far end is another IKEA table that is holding my sewing machine. On top are 4 cutting mats which gives me about 2 yards on the sides to measure. Also on top is the baby quilt I am working on.

This is my couch, lounging area, it is very comfortable. I take my 10 minute naps here...

This is the fireplace and TV, it is directly across from the couch. I am still figuring out the bench and cubes. Not sure if I like where they are. The table was originally going to go in this area but then we swapped everything when the table turned out so big.

This is the cube storage and a place for me to put my knick knacks. I have my mom's shoes and little vases displayed here.

Back to the table. It now has an IKEA lamp hanging over it and boy does it put out some light! Dave hooked up a remote to it so I just have to push a button to turn it on...very nice.

Just another view of the table. I am thinking about decorating the drawers with some decorative paper. Haven't made up my mind though.

this is close up detail of the molding Dave put around my felt design wall. I think it looks awesome!

Another picture of the design wall.

Another view of table and design wall. This is what it looks like from my couch That's about all the news from here. Jack and I went to the community college on Monday and sined him up for his first classes. They start 27 Aug. He has to get up and get to an 8 am class Mon-Wed-Fri, that should be interesting :) Talk to you later!

Braided Rug

I have been working on a braided rug this past week. I've gone as far as I can with the strips that I had from my scrap bag. I'll have to find a similar color pallet and cut some more or I may just get a plain beige and alternate with some color.

I secured my braid to the basket handle and then wrapped it around the handle as it grew in length. This kept tension on the braid. I am not sure how many strips I used or how long they were I didn't think to measure them before hand but final braid was about 4 yards long. So, to start you take 3 strips secure to something with a safety pin and start braiding.

To join the new strip in, you cut a slit in the end of the strip on the braid and the new strip. You put both strips slits together (material right side to wrong side) take the opposite end of the new strip (end without slit) and put through both slits and pull it through, pull tight. This will join the strips securely and you can continue with your braid.

After getting all the strips braided, you start shaping the rug how you want it. I decided to make this one oval. So, begin your center, I started with about 4 inches and then just start going around that center piece, round and round until you get to the end of your braid.

This is what my oval looks like right now. I am going to get some more material to cut into strips to finish it up. I'll probably do another 8 yards to make a fairly large rug. I will show how to sew it when I have finished with the next braid addition.

Here is a few pictures of the room. It is all done now. Going to start moving my stuff in tomorrow and hopefully be all moved in by Sunday. I am so excited! Dave did a really awesome job! I'll post more pictures once we get everything set up.