Blizzard!

No school on Friday meant I could sew!

I love when that happens.
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I started this post a few weeks ago. For whatever reason I wasn't getting pictures to upload using the ipad. SO....here I am finally getting a post done on the laptop.

I sewed all the rows or months for my temperature quilt while it snowed and snowed.

This was a couple weeks ago. Since then we have had a wonderful warm up, including a thunderstorm one day. Then last weekend it was another snowstorm, and another snow day. This was followed by windchills below zero. March in northern Iowa!

Now I'm home because of spring break and sewing on my gypsy wife quilt.

This is sections 1, 2, and 7.

They all use the same strips. I am using what is long enough and sitting on top of stuff for easy access. I hope to get this top done before the break is over.

I have lost track of when I got this next quilt top done, I only know it was in the last few weeks.

All excited! Another top finished! Then I looked at the picture and saw it!

Dang, a block is upside down.

Out comes the seam ripper.

There. All better.

The temperature quilt just needs its black borders attached. They are cut and ready to go.

We had a VERY nice November. All of last fall was nice!

Block Lotto this month is blue and white stars. I should have made more for more chances to win. I love these blocks and think the quilt will be gorgeous.

That's it for now. Back to the giant puzzle of fabric called gypsy wife.

a book, a mess at home, and some blocks.......

Me and My Quilts-Exploring the Possibilites

Julie Sefton has a book! A long time ago she asked me to make a barn block from the book directions. I did. Sent it off to her to get quilted, binding, and hanging sleeve!

And I was sworn to secrecy.

Hold right hand up.

I promise not to breath a word of this adventure and what I have done.

I was officially a SSOBB. 

Here is a link to the books blog.....

thefreepiecedbarnproject.blogspot

Here you will find links for all the other SSOBB members and snippet pictures of their barns.

They are all totally awesome!

Slowly each one will be revealed. 

So, while still working on the house, I have made a decision....

Someday when the kitchen is done, I'll hang that quilt on the new wall area above the fridge. Only it won't be a fridge, it will be a closet door there. All this house stuff is taking up so much of my life right now. It is a good kind of stress, at least it will be worth it when finished.

I took a picture of the block lotto mystery blocks that I have done so far.

Old McDonald Mystery QAL

There will be 99 blocks when we are done.

So I am sewing a little bit too.

2 snow days.....

I was home for two days and went to work on the tula pink blocks. First I put rows together.

I staggered them. I thought I could match up the stagger easier than actually lining them up vertically as I put the rows together. 

It is way to big to get a decent picture of it on the floor. This will have to do for now.

It was nice sewing while it snowed outside. The day before the big storm our new living room window went in too.

We always disliked this window. The center pane was always fogged up and you couldn't really see out. The drapes were hung when we moved in. They were in pretty bad shape after 16 years or so.

Wow, is this really my house? I love these new windows!

Block Lotto blocks...

These are for the February drawing.

And these are for the Old McDonald Mystery at Block Lotto. The color cue was "ground cover" and I went with green.

the latest stuff.....

I'm in a block exchange again. 

My blocks are called Maple Star.

My 12 Electric Fan blocks.

I needed to make one more 6 inch block for my layout and I added some red to the corners of one of the other blocks. 

We made 12 inch star blocks and a 6 inch block that could be any block we wanted. Our exchange blocks are all red and white. I'm adding this blue fabric. There was some discussion on the "rules" for the quilts. 

Were they ONLY red and white quilts? Several people said they had already started adding another color, me included. In the end it was decided that they were our blocks now and we could do anything we wanted with them. It will be fun to see how they all turn out.

Last morning to get January's Block Lotto blocks posted. This year all the blocks will be 6 inch blocks. There is a mystery sampler too. I decided to participate. Sophie dubbed it old McDonald. The name alone made me want to do it.

I went scrappy with mine. We needed 6. 

Two of my sisters came down for Christmas. We went painting and made snowmen. They could be personalized to what ever team we chose. Jane and I did the Minnesota Vikings. Jenny didn't do a team. She took hers home to finish. She wanted leopard spots on her scarf and hat.

And I won!

These are the wonky strip blocks from December at Block Lotto. The majority of them have arrived! I'm thinking they will be laid out in horizontal rows, as I can't think of anything better right now and I like this. The fabric between the block will be a bright green. Sort of a lime color.

We are in a BLIZZARD watch. Not a storm, but blizzard. It is expected Tuesday. 

odds and ends.....

My cousin Max has me sucked into the Row by Row Experience. The Winnebago is from The Quilted Forest in Forest City where they make the motorhomes. When they gave me the pattern, I was in a hurry and only half listened to what I was being told about Row by Row.

Then Max was sending me photos of kits she was finding. When I finally investigated and saw done quilts with all the rows, I fell in love with them.

Max has been on road trips collecting them and it has been one for her, one for me. We were looking for fishing/camping themes. There is one way up in northern Minnesota that had the words

Land of sky blue waters.

I ended up just making the words for the quilt.

Then I talked to my cousin Gwen, in New Mexico. she is right across the border from Durango, CO and sent me these two kits....

Now she was sucked in. She had to go up to Idaho and was happily collecting kits and patterns along the way. She has gotten her brother and son involved too. When all is said and done,

I should have two quilts. The out west one and the fishing/camping midwest one.

These are blocks from a win at Block Lotto a LONG time ago. They are finally in a top!

More lotto blocks. Most of these are duds I won at the lotto... and some leftovers from other quilts.

My goal was to get them all up to 12 inch sized blocks. They are a nice stack of blocks now.

More left over sections from last fall and the Bonnie Hunter mystery. My heart still wasn't in it.

There must be another way to use these....

Maybe as a border for baby animals. Still not sure...

Another finished top. I had plans to make more stars, but quickly became bored making them. They are made from 2 1/2 inch strips. The rest of the strips became the border. 

Another top added to the "get quilted" pile.

That is enough for now!

the sunrise quilt.....

I won some of the sunrise blocks last summer at BLOCK LOTTO. I was excited, but had no idea what to do with them. Last spring I figured it out and [started here] 

I remade my pattern as the first one was off. It was the same, just done more carefully.

I picked out some background blues and continued to sew the big sun. I did one quarter of it to make sure the rays and ring would all fit together and they did.

The easiest part was the ring of black and white so I did all of them first.

Three of the rays done. Only one more to go.

Center sun done and ready for next border. A big black and white check was added.

I was slowed down a little bit doing the math and trying to figure out how big the sun should be cut and how big the filler strips should be between the sunrise blocks so it all fit together.

After the sunrise blocks were sewn together and added,

another round of black and white striped fabric was used.

This is where I stopped....I started cutting what I had of this aqua blue, and might even have enough to finish.

But, I think I'll buy some more fat quarters and add a few more for variety.

A trip to the fabric store is planned for Saturday.

going backwards through June......

I finished hand sewing about 3/4 of the binding for this quilt. It is part of the block exchange at the Blue Earth Valley Quilters. There were 12 of us in this. Next week we all get together and show each other what became of the 24 blocks we received. I'm looking forward to seeing all the different takes on the blocks.

These are April Block Lotto blocks I won! This will be the gift for the wedding we attended last month. It needs a border yet. A blue is my first choice, then it will kind of go with the wedding colors....or I may spot a green that I like...

It is already late, so I'm taking my time.

These are MORE block lotto blocks I won last year. This one has gone through many ideas before I finally committed to setting it with the black and white sashing. It is all sewn together and can go to the quilter as soon as I figure out the backing.

Still plugging away on the Tula Pink project.

Crap this picture is sideways.

I made the HST's two at a time. So I these last two blocks are the same, only different.

I would never have done these blocks at all. Never even bought the book. But I joined the small Tula Pink group and once I start making the blocks I find they are addicting and make a bunch at once. We make 8 a month. I am caught up to the August set of blocks.

We went camping again. One activity was going to the studio in Spirit Lake to do a painting. This one was hard. My least favorite of all the paintings I have done. I was the only one to add the people to the boat. 

They look a little scary.

A ton of coaster were made while camping. We used stickers, magazine pictures, photos, or just paint.

The last thing to show is the blocks for June at Block Lotto. These are harder than they look. As Sophie says,

"we strive for perfection, but it isn't a requirement"

or something like that.

Thank goodness.

The sneak peek was sent out earlier this week. After I finish the binding on my block exchange quilt, I will be working on the July block.