Gypsy

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.

More paper and fabric that didn't get in previous post

A few weeks ago we had 9 inches of snow. Before it was all blown off the driveway by the snowblower, I stuck a yardstick in for a final measure.

This wouldn't be so bad, but Karen had a granddaughter born and she couldn't get down to the hospital to see her right away. 

I busied myself on the baby quilt I was making. It is made from blocks I won at block lotto last summer.

It's my very first attempt at quilting in a circle on my sewing machine. Except for the starting point with the tight small circles it went well going round and round. In addition to watching the previous sewn line, I had to concentrate on keeping my neck and shoulders relaxed. They were getting sore. It took a big afternoon and then some to finish the quilting. 

It still doesn't have the binding and this should surprise no one. 

And my sister's tree, doctored up in a photo app!

paper and fabric

My sisters and mom were down in January. We tried our hand at warm cool trees. They are small, the paper we worked on was about 6 inches and the squares were about a half inch. We used inktense pencils. They are sort of like water color pencils, but ink. 

The original is okay, but I loved it when I put in a photo editing app.

I started another quilt. It is from a kit bought a couple years ago. My youngest sister picked it out for her 50th birthday...which is this year. High time to get working on it. 

All the Dresden plates are cut and a few sewn. They are going well and I'm thinking I will work on them this weekend.

gypsy wife and block lotto hearts for January

This was yesterday afternoon. I had sewn the rest of the blocks and fillers and couldn't wait to start putting them together in their sections. 

Easier said than done.

One giant puzzle.

I counted, checked and double checked. One extra pinwheel. Not bad!

Next up is cutting strips and sewing each section. 

More puzzle work and thinking. I'll save it for another day. 

july and august....

I was on a blog this morning, and in the sidebar for blogs, I scrolled down and saw mine. 3 months since I published. Wow, it was time. The trip to Oregon was fantastic. We used planes, trains and a bus to get all over. 

Lots of sights to see.

The Outdoor Quilt Show in Sisters Oregon was pretty amazing.

I collected Row By Row kits from the 5 quilt shops were visited while we were in Oregon. When I was at The Quilted Forest, I found out they didn't have a winner yet. I went home and started sewing all my rows. I didn't stop until I had a finished, bound and labeled quilt. 

And, I won the prize!

Here's is what I came home with. The bag was loaded with fun stuff!!

I quilted each row and them sewed them all together.

Last years rows is finally quilted too. It has no binding yet.

Typical for me to put that off.

My niece from Virginia was here for a full week. It is her parents that were waiting and waiting for Captain A-moo-ica. She was not allowed to leave here unless it was in her suitcase.

She was here during the quilt show up in Blue Earth....

Madi helped hang the quilts at the show. She didn't know it but I also had made her a quilt. When all the quilts are hung, we then go and hang all the information papers. She read,

Owner: Madison

And off she went to find her quilt.

She was so excited that this quilt was hers.

Other quilts of mine from the show....

The one on the right is mine, Karen's is on the left. These are part of the block exchange. All twelve of the quilts made will be in The Minnesota Quilt Show in Duluth next summer. 

All the same blocks, but so many ways to put them together.

Madi made a mini quilt while she was here too.

Her nourishment while she sewed this.....

She did all the sewing herself. So now she wants to make a king size quilt. 

We shall see.

We took her to the Iowa State Fair.

I had never been to this fair and tractor joe had only been there once. I think it was Madi's first fair too. 

I continued working on the temperature quilt. Its been a few months, might be about time to pull it out and add some more rows.

Okay. That kind of catches me up through the summer...

I'm still trying to figure out what happened to October, it went so fast.

Happy Halloween!

june...

I was able to finish my midwest row by row from last year, and took it to the quilter. 

Carol is still here to help me. 

The May meeting for Gypsy Wife. We are doing two blocks, then the filler blocks, then two blocks and more filler blocks each month. This was the pin wheels month. I love all the different fabrics that are being used. The quilts will all be the same and but the variety will be fun when they are hung together at next years quilt show.

Carol continues to be in the way. I was looking at the ipad and she had to sit on me. Totally blocking my view.

One day I was in the recliner. Ozzy (the dog) was looking up over my head at something. 

Good grief, Carol had jumped up to sit on the cupboard behind me.

My out west row by row got this far. I need to finish three more vertical rows to get this into a top.

Going camping slowed me down.

It was a good four days weather wise. The forecast had 0% chance of rain. But out of the blue a nasty storm hit Friday night. The wind howled and it rained and rained.

We brought our stuff over there in a trailer. We sat in that and played Yahtzee. We were able to stay dry. The tents all held stayed standing and reasonably dry too.  

We did our painting at the studio too. None of us was happy with our birds. They look more like silhouette people sitting on a branch.

Carol was happy to have us home. She wanted to cuddle near me while I sipped my coffee in bed that morning. 

The kitchen was getting worked on. The walls were all fixed up, ready for me to prime and paint.

Carol continued to always be around. Her favorite place was the tray on this ladder. She wasn't bothered by me moving it around to paint.

They left my kitchen sink until the last minute. It was held up with 2x4's. 

I met my cousin Max at the Quilted Forest in Forest City. We promptly bought the kits for this years row by row. I couldn't stand it and started to sew it together.

The cupboards arrived and Carol made herself at home.

I went to toss a towel in the washing machine and there sat Carol.

Carol can found just about anywhere taking a nap. No counter tops or sink yet. They came to measure and thought they would be back on Tuesday to install.

My mom is taking me on a quilting tour. We go will leave Wednesday for Oregon. I'll be in Sisters for the outdoor quilt show next Saturday. We will visit 5 quilt shops, all have row by row patterns. I will be collecting kits at each shop.

Yesterday was clean out the garage and house of old cupboards. The majority of them ended up in my shed. They are mostly empty. 

At least for now. 

I am really trying to fight my hoarder ways. But these just enable me to tuck things away for safe keeping, one just never knows when you will need something!