A Solid Plan

I had them all fooled.  It was the Western Washington ShopHop last month.  My boss quilts, so we snuck away from the office and hit the road at 8:30 am.  It's our annual 'let's go spend some money and buy fabric' day and I have to admit, it truly is my biggest fabric shopping day of the year.  We don't bother with the stamps or free blocks, we just go to have a fun day, have a nice lunch and see a few shops outside our local area.

The issue I've had in the past is not having a plan, and coming home with hodge podge.  Lots of lots that doesn't work together.  So I've grown up and now I enter this day with a plan.

This is it for my pinks/fuschia/berry colors.

One year it was WOW (white on white) fabrics, one year it was cream tonals.  This was the year of the solids. After taking Gwens class, and knowing I loved the solid abstract, this seemed like a good plan.  Ahh, are you remembering the photo I posted here ?  Are you thinking "that girl doesn't need another solid"?  Well, I thought I best catalog what I already had, so I quickly made this the night before we shop hopped.

Not much in the purple category either.

Every shop I looked for solids that I didn't have.  When I pulled out my book, I heard comments lik how organized I was, how smart is that, boy, did you ever plan for this, look how organized you are! Ha, I fooled them all.  This was a last minute, save the day, get out the glue kind of plan!

Definitely short in the blues/turquoise area.
I pulled this together at the 11th hour and only did it because I have no memory of what I have and what I need.  Afther working on the book for a while, I realized what a  great idea it really was.  All the color holes were noticed immediately.  I had no blues/purples/turquoise or the fushia/berry colors.  All the jewel tones were missing. 

Not anymore!  I'm prepared for any colorway of solid quilting.  I especially love one color.  It was a pearl grey/cream color, so I bought a yard of it.  All the others are 1/2 yard cuts.  Now I can work with what I want, rather than what I have. 
Sharon

Past Projects Updated

I've shown this as a top before and now it's a quilt.  I managed to slip this on my longarm in between a couple of customer quilts.  I did a huge Civil War Sampler BOM for my friend and I loved the thread color and quilting design, so I put my CW swap top on right after hers and copied the process. 

I made a scrappy binding, and bundled this up for my camping trip to Mt. Baker.  I hoped to get 2 sides of the binding done and by Sat afternoon, I was finished!  Sitting around the campfire in the early hours, my quilt wrapped around my lap to take off the morning chill, stitching down the binding, What a great way to start a day!  Now I need to label it and attach a sleeve.  I'm going to put this in the NW WA fair as a group project.

This one is still a WIP.  My 9 patch swap that I'm using for the center of my Sisters Choice block.  The star points are perfect for leaders and enders, I got a bunch done when I made a Lib Log piece a few weeks ago.

I've also prepped a few blocks for Beyond the Cherry Tree BOM.  I'm working on the Grape Vine block and I love how its turning out.  It helps that I did the prep work months ago.  I can't imagine having to sit and do 120+ circles to start this block.   Making the circles is TV work.

I have another project in my mind and I'm going to rent time on the AccuCutter at Fabrics Etc in Bellingham.  This will speed up that one step and I already envision myself sitting on the sofa in the winter, basting and gathering circles and building up a good supply for a future project.  I've already got a bag full for the border of my BTCT, even though I'm only on block 11 out of 25.
I've also started this little hand project. This is my first go at a Hawaiian applique.

I've been able to make progress on these two pieces because they are so portable. Even if I only got one or two grapes sewn on, I felt it was worth taking this zip lock bag in my purse. I got almost one whole grape section stitched while waiting at a dr's appt last week.

Lastly, I've revisited this project.   It's also a Bonnie Hunter pattern.

I'm making headway on this by keeping it out on the side of my sewing table. I've got all my strips organized in a cutlery tray which makes it easy to pick up a few strips and sew. I work on this project 10 blocks at a time, and I've got 20 finished and 60 in some state of completion. I decided I need 110 blocks for this to fit my bed, I like this pattern without borders.

What tricks do you have to keep on task with projects?

Sharon

Work in Progress

I pulled out this.

And this, Tonya's fabulous book

And I made this. It fits in the center of my ribbon quilt.

And I got started on these.  Julie K sent me this package and then organized the box!

I'm on my way with the 3 day/60 mile quilt!  Betsy and Corel are both ahead of the game with donations this year.  You can watch their progress and/or make a donation here.  This quilt will raise $1200 for their team.  Thanks again to all who have helped with this project, it's really appreciated.
Sharon

From Garden to Dessert

I am finally starting to see some results in my garden.  I have gotten the upper hand on the slugs this year, I've used a liquid ring of death, I've used pellets, and I've used powders. I'm winning this battle.  Last year they ate everything in my garden before things could even grow. Not this year.

Radishes, 2 rows of lettuce and my beans.  All looking good so far.

 My first red raspberry.  Look at the bounty I am going to have this year.  Better late than never.  I'm shocked at how many berries are on the bushes this year.

  Here is my rhubarb patch.  I transplanted this into the garden box, and it got buried so deep I thought it would never see the light of day

.  Today I had my first harvest and made this.  Here is the naked filling, strawberries and rhubarb. 

Now look at all the goodness after it got it's topping and baked for 35 minutes.  Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp.

This was my contribution to the 4th of July BBQ at my neighbors place.  Pure yummyness (is that even a word?)  There is something so satisfying when you can grow your own food.  The next batch will be raspberry rhubarb!
Sharon

Lights, Camera, Blog

OK, I've had my camera back for a few days but when I started to take photos, the memory is full. So this required a little work, downloading everything from the disk to a cd and starting over. So where to start?
How about the box, package, and bags that have arrived at my house.

Quilters and bloggers ROCK! This box arrived and reduced me to tears.  Julie K organized this.

LOOK at what was in here.  Not only pink fabrics, but thank you notes!  People thanking me that they can help.  Oh my.  I was overwhelmed. 

Another day a package arrived, all the way from Georgia.   Tattered Garden sent me pinks How special is that!  And when I got together with my gal pal M, in mid June, she gave me this!

Here is the box all washed, pressed and folded.  WOW!  I will have the best scrappy pink quilt (s).  I saw Betsy, my friend who is doing the 3 day walk and I told her what has been going on.  She is coming over this week and we will be cutting into this box, yippie!

So ladies, between quilting for customers, I'm going to be working on the PINK quilt for the 3 day/60 mile walk to raise money for the Susan G Komen foundation.  Breast cancer sucks, so I'm hoping to do my small part in the HUGE fight.  Together we WILL make a difference.

From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU ALL!. I don't know who you are that contributed, but trust that your kindness will make a difference in someone's battle.
Sharon

Happy 4th

This was one of my early quilts, one where I learned the value of value!

There was no way these blocks were going to play nicely and make a traditional rail fence. After 3 trips to the quilt store to use their design wall, I made 13 star blocks, put the rail fence blocks in a paper bag and sewed them together however they came out.
It's one of my favorite quilts, and I have it on my bed right now.
Happy 4th to everyone. Hope you catch a few hours of fun today.
Sharon

Happy Canada Day

What a beautiful flag!  I've traveled the country from coast to coast and there is something for everyone here.  If you're not from Canada, have you visited here?  If so, please leave a comment about your visit.  I was born and raised in Canada, and I although I now reside in the US, I am 1 minute to the border and I feel I have the best of both countries all around me here in the NW. 
If you haven't been to Canada, or don't know much about this great country, check out the links below.  We are known for cold weather, for producing the greatest hockey players, and having a fantastic outdoor lifestyle, but did you know about these happenings?
The Calgary Stampede
World class wineries in the Okanogan
Maple Syrup sold around the world
Symphony of Fire, where the world comes to Vancouver to compete
Celtic Colors celebrates the heritage in Cape Breton Island
Winter Carnival in Quebec City
Vancouver welcomed the world to their city for the 2010 Winter Olympics and it was spectacular, I hope you take some time to see what other things Canada has to offer.
Happy Canada Day
Sharon