Work in Process Wednesday and a Rotten Apple, Inc.

Is there anyone else out there in Blogland who has had the new Apple Photos app forced down their throats???  After a routine “update” three nights ago, I woke up to having iPhotos gone and replace with PHOTOS.  I had to import every picture (hours) into a new library.  OK, I am getting used to the new format. I can live with progress. But I can’t access my photos from Blogger when I want to upload them to the blog! Grrrrr.

So, I had to go in to the new PHOTOS, export them to a file called PICTURES, and then upload them. Does anyone know why the export process is so mangled?  If I try just simply uploading from Blogger, all that PHOTOS will give me is the Photos Logo, not the photos themselves. And I can’t place them anywhere on my Favorites or anywhere they are accessible by Blogger.  As usual with tech things, specific advice is nowhere to be found online.  I am probably the only person in the known universe with this problem.

That must mean it is time to go sew and work off some of that frustration!!!

Here is my in process stitching of Bruce’s quilt. He loves bright colors.  So, I am now loving flying geese after doing 100+ for this quilt.  :-)  And actually, I have four out of 8 rows of the top sewn together. I hope to baste it later in the week, sew the back, and begin quilting on Sunday.

After laying these out in order, hubby decided that he wanted all arrows except one column pointing up.  The column that is second-from-right will stay pointing down.  :-)

The gold-looking print in the picture above is actually orange, and there is a lot of orange in the banjo print.

The quilt will be backed with some orange Riley Blake ombre fabric. I found an entire shrink-wrapped bolt of it (10 yards) for $7.99 at a local thrift store.  (No, those things never happen to me either....)  Plus there will be some other pieces and/or flying geese added into the back for interest. I shared this on my Instagram a couple weeks ago.

Well, off to sew.  Linking up to WIP Wednesdays with Lee at Freshly Pieced.

See you soon!

2015 Finish Along, Quarter 2 Goals

It’s the second quarter of the year already, and time for me to set out my Quarter 2 Goals  for the 2015 Finish Along.  Hosted by Adrienne of On the Windy Side, this year-long Finish Along is divided into quarters, with prizes by lots of lovely sponsors and supporters. For every finish, the participant gets an entry into the final prize drawings.

Last quarter I had four goals and finished two.  Those were the quilt for my son Shane, and the Birch Trees quilt for my grandson Easton.  I almost finished my Crazy Floral Needlepoint Quilt, but not quite.  So it heads my Quarter Two list.

1.  Crazy Floral Needlepoint Quilt

The stitching is all done except for the second-to-right block on the bottom.  That will take maybe an hour. Then another hour or two to tack on and embellish a few florals and beads, so maybe one morning to finish. I have actually begun sewing the blocks together, and once the rows and columns are complete, they will be attached to the stabilized needlepoint. I have a sturdy backing and will assemble this with a rod pocket and no interior batting. I will likely tie it, with the ties showing on the back and a mere bead or button showing on the front.  I have decided to sell this when it is complete as I do not have any wall space on which to hang it.

2.  Banjo Pow-Wow

This is a quilt promised to my dear husband, Bruce.  It is all cut out - and believe me, there was a LOT of cutting.  No wonder I like using pre-cuts when I can, LOL.   As you read this, I will already have begun the piecing process.  A little bit of music on (America`s Greatest Hits; must hear my favorite, Ventura Highway, a few times....), a Diet Dr. Pepper nearby (but not too close), and I`m good for a couple hours....

3.  What Cancer Cannot Do

This quilt is being made for a friend of ours who is battling cancer.  Cal has fought hard and was in remission for 5 years. Then last fall, it began growing again. He has had a couple operations, radioactive pellets inserted and begun a new regimen of drugs. And the results are very encouraging at this time!  We are hopeful that he will be with us for many more years. And this quilt, with its inspiring messages and soothing colors will hopefully provide hugs to him whenever his spirits are low.

4. Mini Marmalade

The pattern is Pretty in Pink by Heather Mulder Peterson of Anka’s Treasures and the fabric is a charm pack of Bonnie & Camille`s Marmalade that I had laying around.  I am following the pattern, by cutting each charm into four pieces and inserting the white mini-strips.  It is taking me forever, because I struggle matching things precisely. Looking back, I wish I would have made a vertical slash and inserted the strip, and then made a horizontal slash and inserted that strip. The pattern calls for us to insert the little strips between each pair of pieces top and bottom, and then add the long vertical strip.  Too late to switch that now because everything is already cut out.

And I am definitely feeling the need for one of Lori Holt’s mini design boards (check them out here) and some Alpha-bitties.


5.  Ruffles Skirt for London

And just for good measure, I am adding a number five; a skirt for my granddaughter London. I intended to make it last summer, but definitely will this summer.  And probably some other things that aren’t on any list.....

I have another quilt planned that will be a queen-sized bed quilt for our bed.  I eventually want to have at least one quilt for each season. Our bedroom is painted and carpeted in neutral shades, so changing out the decor with bedspreads, pillows and a quilty wall hanging every quarter is in my long-terms plans.

Now, back to stitching.  I hope your spring is sunny and warm!!

Hugs,

Purple Scrapple Eater

Hooray! Today I finally dragged myself off my death bed (OK, a slight exaggeration; but I’ve had the Cold From He** for 3 days).  Nothing like playing with fabric to get me going!

So, April is the month for Purple in our Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I seem to have quite a bit of purple, but some of it is reserved for other things (am I allowed to do that?)  No matter. The first plan is to get the two large blocks of Wonky Log Cabins done, each consisting of 4 smaller blocks.  As you can see, I have done four:

I need to get more variety in there, methinks, so I may have to “unreserve” some of my other  purple scraps.

And since I only posted one of my yellow blocks last month, I want to show you that I actually did finish TWO - and all before month end.

I even played with these blocks on my design wall, but as you can see, my design wall is so small as to be nearly useless.

I'm working on a plan in my studio to shuffle things around.  Part of the plan involves getting rid of some storage cabinets that take more room than they give, if you know what I mean. And then replace them with something from IKEA (oh darn, a trip to IKEA!!!), move my bookshelf, and I will have a whole area about 7.5 x 7.5’  to rig something up as a design wall.  That’s still not big enough for queen quilts, but it’s manageable.  

If you have scraps, why not join us for Scrap Happy Saturday with Angela ?!?