Day 174 - Strip Quilt and Studio Mess

 

Well, I was ready to begin sewing the jelly roll quilt but I have lost the instructions somewhere in the studio.  Also, I would have to totally put away all of the strip pieces in order to sew anything else so I continued sewing strip quilt blocks.  Here is what the sewing area looks like:

and the chaos at the computer table- nearly impossible to do anything....

Blocks made tonight.

Day 173 - How to strip quilt....

So Carol this one is for you! 

A Day....

Didn't do any crafting today as there was a lot to do this evening.  Was going to trim the lawn but the weed whip battery had not been plugged in.  Went down to REI to exchange the alcove awning that we used for the second time this weekend and one of the velcro attachments ripped loose.  Did hang up the 4th of July buntings on the front fence and began writing in our camping journal for this last weekend.  Monday evenings are always hard to get motivated....

and good 'ol Pete has found a new place to "rest".....

Day 172 - Felt Candle Mats

We had a fun albeit rainy camping weekend at Great River Bluffs State Park near La Crosse, WI.  Our daughter was able to join us for the weekend too.

After tremendous, torrential rains Friday night we went into La Crosse in the morning.  Visited Hobby Lobby and then to Olive Juice Quilts which Micaela so enjoyed.  It thrilled me no end to hear her say "I want some of each fabric in the store."  A daughter after my own heart!  I knew that it was a quilt shop that she would enjoy and find many fabrics that she would love!!  Then had lunch by the Mississippi River where we watched a barge go by.  Micaela suggested that we drive to the Lock and Dam #7 and watch it go through.  That took up the rest of the afternoon and was fascinating.  Dinner and a campfire and then the Park Ranger stopped by to let us know that there were severe thunderstorms in the area as well as high winds.  We packed things up for the night and about 45 minutes later the rain began.  Lots of rain and wind.  It was another grand camping weekend!

Needless to say not a lot of crafting was going on.  I did get the 8 base pieces cut out for the Easter candle mats and then some of the chicks pinned on to one of them.  So I go to begin sewing on the chicks and realize that the assortment of thread that I brought along for the project didn't have yellow in it.  So ended

 the attempt at this camping weekend crafting!!

Day 171 - Life is full of dissapointments....

I had my monthly craft group tonight and the camera got as far as the diningroom table this morning and that is where it was when I just returned home!!!! Verna did some die cutting and embossing on her little Cuddlebug machine, Lois worked on remaking a glass bead bracelet and Carol worked on her book of fall trees.  Oh, I worked on sorting through a bundle of antique postcards of Yellowstone.  It would have been a GREAT photo.

Carol, these are for you.

Day 170 - and more....

guess what....

guess who....

and 3 more ceiling tiles installed....

Day 169 - More Stripping...

These really are different blocks than the last time....

Day 168 - Strip Quilting

Did a few more blocks....

Michael put up some more of the ceiling in the basement....

Day 167 - Craft Group

Had a craft group meeting tonight.  I worked on cutting out 64 little yellow circles in two sizes, Linse worked on a hat that she is knitting and Micaela worked on hand sewing on a pillow.

Day 166 - MN Quilt Show St Cloud MN

Well, what an overwhelming day today as are all of these shows!  It never ceases to amaze me the creativity and imagination people have in creating quilts! So many things that I have never even thought of!  Lots of quilts with black backgrounds, many with embellishments on them such as beads, tassels, charms or buttons.  Also some use of those crystal gems.  The hand quilting astonishes me how even those thousands of tiny stitches are and some of the machine quilting is equally amazing.  As always I am drawn to applique quilts.  There were several quilts that used one inch pieces or one half inch squares and that is something I want to tackle myself.  When I go to these shows I try and remember how much thought people put into their borders too.  By the time I get to the border on a quilt I am in a "hurrah" mode and want to hurry up and get it done.  I saw beaded borders, scalloped borders, tiny pieces of piping inserted inbetween borders, many uses of prairie points heading in or out of the quilt.  Here are a couple of photos from today:

These are my little purchases from today:

Day 165 - Stripping.....

4 more blocks tonight.

 

and the faithful companion....

Day 164 - Strip Quilting

How about an even 4 done this morning-

163 Days - Quick Strip Blocks

Had just a bit of time this morning before work and powered out 4 more blocks! 
                                This is going quite well!

Pete in the basement window- we put the screen in and she was busy smelling the "free" air.

Day 162 - Craft/Idea Board

I made another "work board"  for my daughter's apartment.  She will use this to hang finished projects and works in progress from so they aren't laying on the table or floor.  This is the 2nd one that I have done for her.  It is a quick project to do as it is a piece of foam core board covered in fabric.

I thought I would show you the chaos that I am working with.  Most things are still covered in sheets due to the instalation of the ceiling in the basement.  The space is squished together temporarily but that hasn't hindered me at all getting sewing done.  Here is my "workspace" for the strip quilting.

Day 161 - Strip Quilting

So a rainy day and I have learned to do these a bit faster...
                         17 done today!

Michael worked some more on the ceiling and

 the END IS IN SIGHT!

Day 160 - Creative Thinking...Quilt Shops

Spent the morning in St Cloud with the first stop Grubers Quilts.

Saw this little quilt and I wanted to remember it as I think it would be a fun one to try and reproduce.

Here is a great idea for a partial door covering and they used it to hide some shelves-

just torn strips of fabric!

And this quilt was in the foyer to the store.  It is some Michael Miller fabric used with a panel of RV sayings.

I have a little bit of this fabric and I bought the RV sayings today.

Here were my Grubers purchases.

Then on to Crafts Direct and it had begun to rain again.

Found Michael a comfortable spot to sit and went shopping.  Boy that is a huge store and they carry so many things that are not available in the cities.  I did notice that their prices on fabrics had increased and are the same as what they are charging at Grubers.

We ended our St Cloud (Waite Park) trip with a stop at a restaurant that we had never been to before-

Space Alien!  A fun family place full of noise and kids and crazy things hanging on the walls.