Well, finally found someone that could fix the 4 wheel drive on my jeep.   Thank you Gearzhead in Zephyrhills.   She’ll have her new front driveshaft installed on Monday and should be ready to roll.  Let’s just plan it being her last repair for a while.   I still love driving her though.  Nothing like taking off the top and the doors and letting the wind flow over you.  You don’t even care it’s so hot you almost melt.

After finally deciding I loved Wess’ idea on the name for my jeep, she went to Webster Saturday and had her name put on.  I love the little witches he added on each end.    And, I think I finally found someone to fix my driveshaft.  Will know later in the week.

The ladies asked if I could begin with my blue fabric as they haven’t seen one done in this fabric so tonight I am hoping to at least get the repeats cut and layered evenly.  This will be my beginning fabric and it works out great as it’s the first fabric I purchased with the plan to make this quilt.

 

In my quest to increase my quilting skills I did break my no buy for one fabric.   I purchased the One Block Wonder books years ago and put off making one as it seemed time consuming and difficult.  So this is the fabric I ordered for my one block wonder quilt.  You need 6 of the exact fabric pieces so instead of trying to get exact on my first try, I ordered 6 identical panels.  Pretty soon I need to stop and quilt the tops I have ready.

Starting in June, I am working to see how many quilts I can finish without buying fabrics.  My goal is also to push myself to learn new techniques and forge ahead into more difficult quilts along with finishing planned or started projects.

So, this past weekend I just grabbed the first project that was in my started/planned closet.  It’s a blooming nine patch that I started years ago.   I made the pieced blocks a few years ago and packed it away as I realized it was sewn in diagonal rows and I struggle with keeping those organized and the end triangles turned in the right direction.   Not to mention, it had to all be laid out at once before you could sew the rows.  So I pulled it out, cut my 150+ solid squares and started laying it out.  First I spent a half hour or so laying it out on the bed to find it wasn’t a large enough space.  I moved it to the floor and it took over 2 hours as I had to move it twice to fit in the area I had to work with.  Next I sewed both the corners of the quilt and I am pleased to say I only had to unsew 3 of the end pieces because I turned them the wrong way.

I took a break to make dinner and failed to close the door so of course Merlin found the pieces and rolled around in them before I found him.  Shannon was kind enough to crawl around on the floor with me and it took us 45 minutes to rearrange the rows.   I stayed up till after midnight Sunday piecing the final rows as I was not going to lay them out again.  Still needs borders then to be quilted but here’s my progress so far.

Merlin is my mostly quiet one.  He’d be happy to just sit on your lap and love you forever.   I worry sometimes because he seems depressed and he hides in a corner of the bedroom.  I’m hoping it’s just a phase and passes once baby dog gets a little older and less crazy.   This is Merlin’s new sleeping habit.

We talk all the time about how big baby dog’s head is.  You really notice it side by side.  Argus is 11 months old and baby dog is 4 months.  If you look at his feet they are already as big as Merlin’s so I hope he grows into that head.

A storm was coming in and cooled the air down so it was at least breathable.  The boys enjoyed the few minutes of cooler weather playing in the yard.

I absolutely love teaching people to look at a fabric and be inspired to make something beautiful.    I pulled some teals and chocolate for one and yellow and blues for the other out of my stash.  Turns out both Kennetha and Marilyn loved the teal and chocolate.    As luck would have it, I have exactly enough to let them both use the same fabric.  We will have to find a coordinating color for their binding.  So while they practiced making accurate 1/4″ seams, I cut pieces.   The first picture attached is the fabric both ladies are using and since I had the yellow and blue already cut up, I spend Sunday sewing it up and I’ll donate the quilt.  I’ll repost it once it’s quilted.

When you’ve spend over half a day cleaning your house because you have a quilt class to teach the following day.  This is when you have to decide love them or kill them?  You will notice baby dog isn’t innocent.  His head is just barely in picture on the right.  He’s smart enough to run when the front door opens.   And they wonder why they have to stay gated in the play room when I’m not home.