A Little of This and That

  Well, I got up this morning with yuk in my throat, and I have been sick too often lately so I got up and took something right away. Well, I have had to take it again and I hate to say it, but I am feeling pessimistic about the prospects of not getting sick. I am trying to think positive, but the throat is starting to hurt. Yuk!!!
  I have started a new project and I am conflicted as to how I will proceed. I am using a pattern, but cutting the fabric at 37 1/2 inches across left a nice piece of the fabric on the ends. Maybe I can make to original pattern and then use those lovely shorter pieces and make my own addition to the piece so it is larger than it is supposed to be. I am still thinking about it. This is for my 17 year old granddaughter and I am unsure if she would like a wall hanging or prefer it be something she can put on her bed. I will continue to think about it. I have a little job for a friend hemming some pants so I will do that tomorrow and then get back to the quilt.
  When that quilt is finished I have a friend from high school who is interested in having me make a quilt for her. She posted a picture of one on face book and asked me how hard it would be to make. It is not a hard quilt, even though I have not made it before, I have wanted to. It is the puzzle piece quilt. At least that is what I call it, the blocks are simple squares, with interconnecting puzzle nubs.
  I love it that some of you are so faithful to comment on my blog posts, so please keep it up. I have book club tonight so I will go have a bite to eat before I go. Until next time yall have a very quilty week.
Tennye

Happy Sunday

  Well the day started out dreary and misty, but has turned sunny and bright. My son is here to get as new tattoo. His sisters old bosses son is his tattoo artist and he comes here for them. He was supposed to be here a couple of weeks ago and got sick. So he made his plan to be here this weekend too. Then he had to work yesterday, so he came in last night about midnight. One of my girls and I stayed up until he got here and visited with him for a while. Just enough time to let him decompress from his long drive. Then he slept almost as late as the rest of us. We had a good breakfast together, then he went off for his appointment.
   I have started a new wall quilt for my granddaughter. Her birthday was in Dec.and I told her I would be late getting her gift made. She is such a good girl and understands that life has been a mess the last few months. I love what it is looking like so far, but I took the pictures with my phone and I have not learned to send them to the computer yet. I bought the pattern and then the store where I got it was having to go out of business and I got two others for 40% off. I will make all of them eventually, and had thought of making her a large quilt with all of them. I only have three though and I am not sure how I will put them together if I do. I guess I could use one of the scenes twice, to make it square. I could even make it rectangular by adding some sashing or pieced boards.  I have thought about this a lot, and I don't have any commissions right now so maybe I should just do that. However I did have a friend ask me if I might make her a quilt. I found the pattern for it and I will message her about it.
  Well, sorry no pictures this time. Until next time yall have a very quilty week.
Tennye

Resolutions or Revalations

  I have been reading other blogs and my groups, and it seems reorganizing the sewing room is the main resolution I have seen. Wow, some of you are very creative and down right genius with the methods you come up with for controlling your stash and organizing your fabric pieces. My favorite is the mini bolts so many of you have come up with. I will be checking out making some of those. I am also going to get out those little scraps and get them pressed and cut up for future use ,then going to add the hst's to the boxes. I have been sewing them to begin seams and end seams. So I need to press them and sort them in color ways. Now, I am not going to get too crazy and say I will be getting everything organized and cleaned up. I would like to, but I know I won't. I am sure I would love the end result, but I would also get started and not sew for months because the sewing room is all messed up. Okay, enough of that.
  I had two new quilting magazines when our life fell apart back in Oct. Nov. time frame. I found them Sat. and they were open to the last page I had read, so I picked up  the oldest one and started reading. By mid day Sun. I had finished that one and started on the next one. One article I read that made an impact on me was "New Recipes for Leftovers" By Bev Getschel. She suggests you make an extra block with each quilt you make and then at the end of the year you have a great sampler quilt for that year. She saves extra borders and small blocks as well. I may just try that out, if I am making my own quilts. Then again I have so many Unfinished quilts I might not want to add any more to what I am doing. LOL
  Well, I started this a few days ago and I really don't have anything to add. So until I see yall again, have a very quilty week.
Tennye

2013 Challenges

   Well, the group of ladies I first met in an on line group did an exchange a couple of years ago of signature blocks that would make either a wreath or a Christmas tree. I have the pattern that will make the star for the top of the tree, or I can make the wreath. The wreath is what I think I would like to make out of mine. We have one or two ladies who have completed their projects, and the rest of us need to complete ours. So we have issued a 2013 challenge to the remainder of the group

   who still need to finish ours, complete them by Aug. 2013. I have added to this challenge completing my own birthday block quilt. I have posted pictures of those block in the past, but here are a few of them just to remind you or show them off to those who may not have seen them before. Some of the other ladies also added their Birthday blocks to the Aug. challenge. So as soon as I get the commissions I have completed and my grand-

daughters birthday gift finished. This challenge will be my first priority for 2013. Along that same line, I have also made the commitment to go back and do the Free Motion Quilting projects from 2012, give them my attention. You see I had thought I would be able to do each of the Challenges they put out last year and improve my FMQ. I just got too busy and I never finished even one of the challenges. Then on my visit with my daughter in TN, my granddaughter

 commented on the commission quilt I had with me on the trip. She asked me why I always quilted in those swirly lines.I asked her why she asked" Did she not like the way that looked?" She said" no I like it okay, but that is the same way you quilted my quilt. I thought maybe it was the only way you quilt." So I explained to her it was a quicker way of quilting and I used it

 when I am in a hurry or behind on a quilt. I also told her I had just learned to do it when I made her quilt and that is why I used it for her quilt. She was happy with that. I however came to realize I need to be a better FMQ'er, and the only way to do that is to practice, practice, practice. The challenge projects should help me with that.  I will use these projects I have been challenged to complete this year, I may even use them on each block of my birthday block quilt. Quilt as I go, and

finished faster and easier.
  I do love these blocks, and I have not looked at them in a while, I look forward to finishing this quilt.  i have not made a quilt for me that is complete yet. I have either given them all away or sold them. I will love having a quilt that I made. Maybe I will even finish the one I have 2/3 completed for my hubby this year. I will not load on to myself the weight of complete all UFO's.

 Until the time I am able to get back with you yall have a very qilty week.
Tennye

Great Vacation and Quilt Finally Delivered

 Hello and Happy New Year to each and every one of you. I had a very nice vacation with my husband. We traveled to visit our youngest daughter and her family for the New Years holiday. We left on the 28th and spent the night with my Aunt and Uncle in the DFW area. We got up early on Friday morning and headed for Tennessee.

   We had a little problem with our car on the way and had to have it repaired before we could continue our trip. That being said we were delayed two and more hours . It made us late enough that we were too tired to continue the drive. We found a hotel for the night and got some good rest. We got up early the next morning and found a Waffle House for breakfast.

 Finally made it to our daughters house about 10 that morning. We sure were glad to be there and the kids were as glad to have us as we were to be there. Our precious grandson seemed to remember us even though it is three or four months between times we have gotten to see him. It is amazing how smart those little ones are.

   He turned 1 Dec. 13th his sister turned 11 Dec. 10th, and then on the 2nd of Jan. his daddy turned 37. They have a busy winter with birthdays since it all starts with my daughter in Nov.
  Our friends who live in TN were able to come visit with us for a couple of days, it is so good to get to visit with them. They are the kind of friends you don't see for long

 Periods of time and just pick up like you saw them the day before. We always enjoy our time in TN with the kids. They wanted us to go see the top of Look Out Mountain where you are supposed to see 5 states. However the weather was raining and nasty, so even though we took the incline tram up and back down all we saw was the top of some thick clouds.

 I have a picture and I think it is very cool. My daughter does not like the tram so she and the baby drove to the top in our van, and then back down. We then went to a surprising cafe in a grocery store. The food was great, but had I been told to try it with out my son in law having already done so, I would not have gone.

On our trip home we stopped in DFW and spent the weekend with my Aunt and Uncle. Other than just stopping on a trip to TN we have not had time to visit them in almost a year. They are not just family, but friends and we always enjoy visiting them. During the visit I delivered the second quilt of clothes to the family who commissioned them to be made. As you can see the one I have photoed in this post. I was unable to take pictures of the first one I had my daughter deliver earlier in Dec. while she was in DFW for a training with her job. I used blues as sashing on that one, but the blocks are almost the same in both quilts. I have not heard from them, but I think they are happy with both of the quilts.
  Well, I have a lot of things that I need to get done in the next couple of weeks, and now it seems my mother is having a problem with her refrigerator, so I guess we will need to go find one. I hope it holds out until we can get a new one delivered. So I will be helping her with that. Until next time I do hope yall will have a very quilty New Year.
Tennye