OMG! I finished my Be A Man Liberated House Quilt Block

Today I worked on my "Be A Man" Liberated House quilt block, and finished it.  It looks awesome with the garage and flying nachos roof. 
I also finished up my "Yoga Girl" Liberated House block; see below. It is the least liberated of all my liberated house blocks, but I think I'll keep it.  Now, I have 15 liberated house blocks complete.  I am going to do the "You had me at Merlot" liberated house block, then I will have sixteen.  I am still looking for some black and white fabric that looks something like a road, to use as sashing between the blocks. Also, I have some RR track fabric that I can use across the bottom, and I am going to figure out a street sign and a couple more details.  Since I will not get it completed for this year's quilt show, I am going to have to halt work on it, and complete the quilt I have started for the competition at The Fair.  I am running out of time.  Because of my foot surgery, I have not been able to do much piecing and not much anything else, so I am behind in everything, except the dishes. 

Liberated Houses

I made two more Liberated House blocks this last weekend, at our quilting retreat in Eagle, Idaho.  Tonight I made some progress with my yoga girl block.  I think her house is turning out pretty sweet!  It is not completed, but here is a photo so you can see where I am going with it.

Eagle Barn Quilting Retreat This Weekend!

I had surgery on my old left foot, so have recently been out of commission.  But yesterday (Saturday) I drove to Eagle for a retreat with the Knotty Quilters.  I drove into the parking lot, where they left me a space nearest the building, and they all came out an took all my materials into the building by the time I managed to get out of the vehicle.  By the time I got into the building Colette had my sewing machine all hooked up and ready to go! Wow!.  Then around 1:30 we went for lunch at Smokey Mtn Pizza and Pasta, where they have changed the menu again, but they have gluten free French fries!  Yeah! What a dream day! I got another block completed for my Liberated Houses quilt (aka Wonky Houses quilt).  Gotta go, headin' back to Eagle in two minutes for another fun day of quilting magic!

Ebony's Quilt

I used a piece of an old sheet, that was still in very good shape, for the backing of this kitty quilt.  It is 26" wide and 50" long. I make them this size, so they can be located on the back of the couch or folded in half and place on the seat of a chair.  It keeps the cat hair in check and you can wash them frequently.  This one is for my daughter's cat.  I just use scraps and try to include fish, bird, and cat fabric if I can. I have made them with frogs and you know the cat does not mind.  I just did a stitch-in-the-ditch on this one.  My sewing machine has a little foot that is raised on one side, so the seam sits right up against the other side, and I adjust my needle to the left enough to sew right next to the seam, so it looks much nicer than my old attempts at doing stitch-in-the-ditch.  After I have it quilted, I trim the backing down to an inch larger than the top, and just fold it over on the front to create a cheaty binding that I just top stitch down.  I do this for kitty quilts, because it needs to be sturdy, not fancy.

Sunset Sail coming along

these are blocks on my design wall

I am a slow sewer, even today, to say the least.  But I love it so much, I just keep doing it! I took the Sunset Sail class last Thursday and Friday evenings at Room to Learn in Kuna.  I am liking how this is going.  Of course, none of us finished by the end of Friday evening, so we are meeting again this Friday to do some serious finishing up and a baked potato bar.  Quilting and a potato bar! How awesome is that?  Sunset Sail pattern is by Margaret E. Stone for Snow Day Designs.

Fabric Flashback

When I was 16, I was pretty darned hot, and I didn't even know it!  Today I was cleaning out my sewing box from Junior High/High School and discovered a small remnant of red double-knit fabric that took me right back to the summer of 1974.  It was from the short culottes that was part of the uniform for my first job.  I think back . . . it was truly a world away from where we are now.  The uniform for women (aka girls) at the Red Steer Drive Inn was white peasant blouses, with the neck tying in the front, short red culottes, and a tiny red and white vertical striped apron.  When I was hired they gave me instructions to buy the materials to make the uniform. My mother and I went to the fabric store at the Collister Shopping Center to get the pattern and fabric.  The ladies at the fabric store knew what we needed for the uniform needed to work at the Red Steer.  I don't think the guys, who worked there, had to make their own uniforms.  Because I am a slow sewer, to say the least, my mother made the blouse and culottes for me.  It just occurred to me that it is the mother's responsibility to take a photo of their daughter when going off to her first job in uniform.  I think my mother fell down on the job.  I wish I could see what I looked like in that outfit.  Maybe immature, but I am pretty sure 'hot' is the word.   I was wearing that outfit and working the north window of the Main Street Red Steer the day someone was waiting for their order and heard the news on the radio that President Nixon had just resigned.  I am sure he looked like hell, but I looked terrific!  Of course, he was pretty old and I was 16.

Valentine's Day Gifts

Mary's "snack bag" and Phyllis' "goodie bag"

I made two more bags, as I had people I wanted to give them to.  I admit, I do enjoy sewing these silly useful little bags with one easy strap across the top.  These are instant gratification projects. They take alot less time to complete than a quilt.  I did complete a quilt top in January, but I don't know when I will get it quilted, since I am cleaning up my quilt room. Right now it looks like a bomb exploded in there.  Here is the quilt top I finished.  I used the "15 Minutes of Play" method of "made fabric" to make this quilt top.  I love it.

    Victoria  Findlay Wolfe is the author of the book "15 Minutes of Play".  It is a terrific way to use scraps, so you can stay away from the fabric store a bit and save your budget.  I really do want to use some of my stash, so I am trying to shop in my own fabric collection.  I am the first to admit there are lots of awesome fabric designers out there today and those fabrics are tough to resist.  I made list and I am sticking to it.