Hello Again...

It has been quite some time since I posted but I have been crazy busy! Doing what? Well, trying to get hours for my counseling program, teaching, attending classes, and working (my normal job). So, in between (here and there) I have tried to find time to quilt for my sanity's sake. For those of you who are keeping track, I have been working on the "wedding" quilt and the yo quilt. I say "wedding" because it was supposed to go to my husband's brother and his wife; unfortunately that union has already met it's end, so we have decided to keep it and give it a good home. It is pieced together, pinned and ready to be quilted, which will be done by hand when I have the time.

This was a pattern from one of my numerous quilt magazines. While it is more of a traditional pattern, it just called out to me when I saw it and I hadn't messed with triangles yet....so, I figured....why not?
Another quilt that I almost have ready to be layered and quilted, is the the yo quilt. At this point I have all the 406 yos pinned on and now I just have to sew them all on by hand. (Heh.)

This again was a pattern from a quilt magazine that I feel in love with. The colors are not usually what I would gravitate towards, but it reminded me of the sea and all the beautiful colored coral, sea creatures and fish way done in the darkness. It is bright, out there, and hopefully will bring smiles when used by the family. The teal batik I found was just perfect, that I have decided to buy the same for the back. What better feeling then to be wrapped in the sea, being kissed by multicolored starfish?

And now, to introduce the newest member of the family....

I realize it is just an ironing board and not a living thing, but "she" spoke to me and I HAD to have her! My husband and I went to an antique shop to find some bottles for his upcoming art show, and I went wondering upstairs where I saw her hidden behind a wooden sled and an odd painting. She is said to be from 1922, and all the metal, chain, and wood is in fabulous condition! Now, let me back up and explain my love/hate relationship with ironing boards. I was forced to iron as a child and I couldn't stand it! I swore when I grew up and moved out, that I would never iron again! Shortly after I moved out, I bought a Conair steamer that has been with me ever since. Once I started quilting, well, I had to buy an iron and a board. I have gone through about 3 boards (one new from Target, one new from Bed, Bath and Beyond, and one that I made). Nothing was what I wanted to work on and the new ones were made so cheap and rickety. I had given up on finding my ironing board match, and bought a tiny portable table-top board at Salvation Army. Now, I have her! She is the right height, solid wood and construction, beautiful design, and was just waiting to be picked up and have a purpose once again. My plan is to lightly sand, add some danish oil and wax, and cover the top with some lovely batting and a favorite fabric. I can't wait! I plan to have her up and running by this weekend and I will post her post-op picture when I am done!

Finally, I also was able to rearrange my fabrics into something a little easier to see in one glance. Instead of arranging them into red, orange, yellow, etc.; I decided to arrange them with other fabrics that went along with them in color or pattern. This way, I can keep collecting and adding to the different piles until I have enough to make a quilt with. However, this adventure was not done alone....Griffyn was more than happy to oblige with the organization process.

Doesn't she look right at home in my scraps? I just concluded that she was helping them from flying away from the air conditioner vent. (Heh). So we worked all afternoon and got it all done in time for lunch. While putting it all away, a few fabrics came together unexpectantly that will be the next quilt (TBA). So I have been able to squeeze quite a bit in between everything else, although I got a little behind in my work and school assignments, it was worth having my creative outlet. So, that is up to date on where I have been and now it's time to....

Take a nap.

mm

Yo Momma is so...

Okay, so the yo yos are making me kind of punchy now. I gathered up some more fabric and cut a whole new stack of 5.5" squares. Thanks to Sew Obsessed, Quiltique, and Joann's I was able to add some great colors to the project.

You might recognize some of the designers in here: Amy Butler, Heather Bailey, Michael Miller, Kaffe Fasset, Joel Dewberry, and Anna Maria Horner. I figured if I average 12 yos a day, it will take me 28 days to finish the rest of my goal of 409! However, I pushed myself to get 15 done this evening (this really doesn't seem like an amount to brag about), but my basket is starting to fill up and the yos are multiplying!

Once I made a yo from all my new fabrics I decided to lay them out on my background fabric to make sure I didn't have too much of one color and not enough of another. I think I concluded that I need a little more pink, orange, and purple. The green and yellow is certainly covered.

What do you all think? I need some advice.

State of Yo....

For those of you who are too young or whose mother did not drag them to a Smother's Brothers concert when they were children, would not know about being in the "State of Yo" as the 'Yo-Yo Man' would get into prior to starting his yo-yo act. Well, I am in a state of yo with my new yo-yo maker and my new quilt adventure. I discovered this quilt on the cover of American Patchwork & Quilting (June 2011, Issue 110) and just HAD to make it.

Between the turquoise background in batik and the bright, fun colors of the yo's I was practically salivating before I made it to the checkout to buy the magazine. Now, let's take a step back here: (1) Have I ever made yo-yo's? No. (2) Have I ever worked with a batik fabric? No. and (3) Was I aware that this cute 'little' quilt required 409 of those a fore mentioned, never having done, yo-yo's? Uh, No. So, here I am at my first attempt of making them, and yes, I went with Clover's 60mm Extra Large Yo-Yo Maker template/tool because I wasn't really sure what I was getting myself into.

After some trial and taking the first one apart, I finally got the hang of it. However I did consult a couple of tutorials and videos on-line prior to attempting this. As always, I decided to Mary Shelley (Frankenstein reference) a few of the tips together to form my own way of making them work. I took some from Heather Bailey's tutorial, some from Lazy Girl Designs, and some You Tube videos. Here is the finished product...

Now only 406 to go! (This is only a fourth of the stack that needs to be done)

I might have to recruit relatives with tequila to get this done (yes, mom I am talking to you).