A Deadline, Pinmoors & Boo

Posted on January 30, 2011 by Barb

Remember the other day when I told you about the gift I got?  This week I finally got to use them. 

It’s Pinmoors!  And after using them once, I already know I’m going to need more.

I was making this little baby quilt.  And I was operating on a deadline.  Which means I was sewing until 1:00 a.m. on the day of the baby shower.  Please try to conceal your amazement at that statement.

But I was telling you about Pinmoors.

They are the coolest little silicone things.  That you stick on the ends of your pins as you’re pinning a quilt to be quilted.  Like this:

See?  No more hard-to-fasten safety pins.  These things just slip right onto the pointy end of regular straight pins.  So cool!

I was just happy that this guy was mostly not paying attention.  (He opened his eyes just seconds before I snapped this pic.  He somehow knows when a camera is on him in his sleep.)  I knew that if he really woke up, he would want to be in the middle of my quilting.  And he would soon be batting those colorful silicone cylinders all over the house.  And I had a deadline!  It was important for me to stay focused and moving.  And not chasing Pinmoors and a cat all over the house.

See how cool they work?  And if I make anything larger than a baby quilt, I’m going to need more.  Lots more. 

Family Birthday alert!  I need more of these and they would make a great birthday gift.  Just sayin’.  And thanks, Brenda!

They have other uses too.  You know how needles disappear into pin cushions?  Well, you can push one of these little guys onto the eye of your needle and keep that from happening.

See how easy it is to find the needles in the middle of all those pins?  Never will your needles get pushed all the way into the pin cushion never to be seen again.  Way cool.

They don’t come off until you pull them off.  But they are so much easier to remove than safety pins.  Why didn’t I think of them?  Just when you think everything’s been invented for quilting that could be invented….. along comes Pinmoors.

Thankfully this guy was still sleeping.  And not chasing Pinmoors all over the house.

Isn’t he cute?  Makes me want to kiss his nose.  If I could find his nose.

More quilting…….

It turned out great!

A view of the back.  Love that wavy/slinky stitch that my sewing machine does.

Meanwhile, back at the red chair.  This guy slept through it all.

Ahhhhhh.  There’s that cute little nose.

And after I finished sewing the binding on the front, I decided to cook dinner before finishing the hand stitching on the back.  So I tossed the quilt on to my cutting table.  When I came back to get it after dinner, this is what I saw………

“What Mom?  I was just testing it out.”  So there you have it.  Cat tested, Boo approved.  And washed after it was finished before given to the new Mom.  It’s safe, Meghan!

I have a bazillion pics from the baby shower to share with you.  And a gazillion more of the JSS Bee day last week.  Lots of blogs to come……

Hugs,
Barb
P.S.  The pattern for the baby quilt is called Magic Nine Patch.  It’s a super easy, fast quilt to make in any size.  Great for new quilters too.  Let me know if you need a pattern!

Posted in Boo, quilts | Tagged , , , , , | 15 Comments

Dear Jane 2011

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Barb

A new year and our Dear Jane Club is back in full swing.  What a fun group of ladies it is!  You do remember that it’s not all about Dear Jane, right?  These gals just bring along whatever it is they are working on at the moment.  And sometimes it’s their Dear Jane quilts.  Sometimes not.  But it’s always fun.

First, do you remember seeing Jenni’s chatelaine in the DJ blog on December 31st?  Just in case you don’t remember, let me refresh your memory……

Really fancy, isn’t it?  Well, JoAnne decided that Jenni’s scissors needed something better for hanging on……

Jenni’s scissors are hanging in style now.  Complete with a DJ block for a pin cushion on one end!  Fabulous job, JoAnne!  And Jenni even had some takers for that old chatelaine.  It’s a one-of-a-kind, after all.

Jenni also brought along a completed quilt to show everyone.  A Dear Jane quilt!  She surprised us all with it finished over the holidays!  And we didn’t even know she was that far along in her DJ journey.  Boy, did she surprise us.

And here it is!  What’s that you say?  It doesn’t look like a Dear Jane quilt to you?  Ahhhhh, but that’s because you don’t know the secret of our little group.  Any quilt that has any amount of DJ blocks in it is considered a Baby Jane.  And lurking way down in the lower right corner of Jenni’s quilt……..

……are four fabulous Dear Jane blocks!  So it’s a Dear Jane quilt.  Aren’t you impressed?  We were.  Apparently we are easily impressed.  And we loved Jenni’s scrappy, fun, happy quilt.  It made us all smile.

Denise was working on this happy appliqué block.  This is going to be a bright, cheerful quilt!

Jenni was working on this appliqué block.  With taupe colors inspired by the fabulous Japanese quilts she’d seen in Houston.  After all, she already had completed a Dear Jane quilt.

Judy was stitching the binding on this classy piano quilt.  It will hang in her home when she finishes that binding.  Knowing Judy, the binding is finished by now.  She’s a whiz!

And Judy also finished all these DJ blocks since the last time we met!  She went to Vermont last Fall and saw the original DJ quilt and got all inspired to hand piece one of her own.  I think she also had gotten wind of how much fun we were having at our monthly DJ Club and she didn’t want to miss out on any fun.

I also couldn’t resist a picture of this cute bag that Judy had all her sewing things in.  I just knew you needed to see it.

And look at this cute pin cushion wrapped around Donna’s finger as she stitched on her DJ block.  I had to show it to you.  Isn’t it just the cutest little thing?

Here’s Donna’s block.  Almost done.  Very nice.

These are JoAnne’s blocks that she finished since last time.  And the one she worked on this month.  She’s going to have this red, white and blue DJ done in no time.  Her work is fantastic.

And then, fashionably late, in came Julie!  We hadn’t seen Julie for several years at DJ Club.  Which, of course, meant that we had to have a big discussion on how long it had really been.  And we decided it had been somewhere between 4 and 452 years.  Julie thought it had only been a year or so, but we set her straight.  And then she surprised us all with this…….

A whole big box of DJ blocks!  She’d really been holding out on us.  And we wanted to kick her to the curb.  Looks like we needed her a whole lot more than she needed us.  But she didn’t know what she’d been missing.  Or maybe she did and that’s why she’s back?  I mean, after all, the food in December is worth the price of admission, right girls?  And we are all glad that Julie is back.

One of these days after I get organized (yeah, right, see yesterday’s blog), I’m going to do a whole posting about Inklingo.  It’s a fabulous quilting technique/tool created by a very dear friend of mine.  In the meantime, you have to see this cute video she made.  It will give you a chuckle.  And I’m sure you need a chuckle today, right?

How to Sew a Feathered Star

Be sure to have your sound on.  My favorite part was the rows of half-square triangles that look like they are clapping.  Or singing.  Or dancing.  And I love Monkey.  He’s almost as photogenic as Boo.

Enjoy!
Barb

Posted in quilts | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

Piles #345

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Barb

They’re baaaaaackkkkk.  The piles that is.  Just when I thought I had them under control.   I’ve been working on them a bit lately.  And they’ve kept me from the blog.  Did you miss me?  Don’t tell me if you didn’t.  My fragile psyche might not be able to take it.

Does your kitchen table look like this?  Don’t tell me if it doesn’t.  My fragile psy…… well, you get the picture.  Why does the mail have to pile up so?  Why do we seem to barely be able to make it in the door and then drop things here?  How are we supposed to eat dinner?  OK, OK – who cares if most days we eat on TV trays in the living room.  Obviously this picture proves why we do that.  This pile makes me crazy.  Bet you can’t even tell that the Christmas table topper is still on the table.

So last week I worked on it.  Which meant many hours of going through all those envelopes and papers.  Yukkkkkk…… not my favorite thing to do in the world.  I have much better things to be doing.

Like working on this pile.  This is a pile a quilter can love!  All these quilts that need to be quilted.  And I long for the day I can go the The Quilting Depot and work on them.

But lately this stuff keeps consuming all my time.  It’s making me crazy.

Look how unconcerned Boo is.  I know you can only see part of him, but it’s obvious that concern is not what’s consuming him.  He’s all about a nap.  Even the stack of books way in the background needs attention.  “Come on, Boo.  Show some concern.”  Not happening.

This pile by the printer is actually in my sewing room.  And it keeps me from feeling good about being in there quilting.  Every time I walk in the room, I think I should be going through this pile and dealing with it.  So I feel guilty if I sew.  It’s a curse.  Can somebody please come over and just blow up my piles?

This corner in the kitchen actually isn’t too terribly bad.  At least the cookbooks in the corner are somewhat organized.  But the rest of the stuff needs some work.  Look!  There are even a few leftover Christmas peppermint marshmallows hiding there!  I can just imagine how stale those last 3 marshmallows are.  Help.

But look at the kitchen table now!  It’s almost too clean.  Give it a few days.  At least the Christmas quilt is gone.  And I’m working hard at keeping the mail at bay.

And how about this space on the kitchen counter?  But wait.  That looks a little too stark even for me.

There.  That’s better.  Because we might need to write a note and not only blow our noses or salt and pepper the food on the stove.

I’m off to quilt.  The rest of the piles will just have to wait.  Today is Dear Jane Day at the shop where I work.   And I have a project to work on that has a deadline too.  But the JSS Bee gals are coming over for the day on Thursday.  Wonder where I can hide the rest of these piles?  Maybe there’s room under the guest bed.

And how are the piles at your house?

Hugs,
Barb

Posted in Boo, just stuff, quilts | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

New Year, New Project

Posted on January 17, 2011 by Barb

It’s a new year and I’ve added to my UFO’s already.  That’s UnFinished Objects for those of you unfamiliar with quilting terms.  A new project is always a temptation.  Why is it so fun to start something new?

I’m certain I talked about this Roses of Remembrance quilt before.  This block is a sample I made last summer for the shop where I work so that others might want to start a new project in the new year too.  I love having others join me in adding to UFO’s.  It’s helpful to have a support group. 

By the way, my niece, Janna, just rolled her eyes.  I’m just sure of it.  She has now decided that she will be 95 before I finish the T-shirt quilt I started for her way back in 2010.  (That was a ploy.  I’m sure I’ll finish it by the time she’s 70.  Shhhhh.  Don’t tell her I said that.  I can’t wait to surprise her on her 70th birthday!  In the year 2052.  When I’m 98.  There’s something very wrong with those numbers.)

I made this block last summer too.  Another sample for the shop.  And apparently this quilt is quite popular and/or they liked my sample blocks.  We have a very large group of ladies who wanted a support group for making this quilt this year.  I’m sure I’ll be sharing pictures of their progress.   What a fun time we had at our first meetings last week!

Here are the fabulous batik fabrics from Island Batiks just after I’d washed them and pulled them from the dryer.  I tried my hardest to get Boo to fold them for me, but as you can see he just turned his back.  He only wanted to revel in the heat of the fabric from the dryer.  Lazy cat!

See Mom?  I knew you could fold them all by yourself.  He was just interested in laying on the ironing board and swishing his tail.  His tail is always moving.  Unless he’s asleep.  That’s the only time his tail stops moving.

Here’s the book with all the blocks for this fabulous quilt.  My fingers are just itching to start on the applique.  Now if I can just get these itchy fingers off this blogging keyboard.

The other day I stole borrowed Janet’s templates and traced the pattern on all the pieces for the first block.  These templates made the prep process so easy!  Don’t tell Janet, but she may never get her templates back.  At least not until I finish prepping all the blocks for the whole quilt.  Sure hope she’s not reading the blog.

I whipped out this little stack of prepared pieces in no time.

Hard to believe that this little itty bitty stack of fabric pieces…………

…………is enough to do this whole block, isn’t it?  Very hard to believe.  And by the way, that is not my finished block.  I just took a picture of the block in the book.  Fooled you, didn’t I?  I’ve already warned the group that I take a long time to do anything.  Just visit any Dear Jane posting on this blog and you’ll see what I mean.  I’m a little slow without a deadline.  Just ask Janna.

But you never know.  I just might surprise them all this year.  Including Janna.  Maybe I’ve turned over a new finished leaf?  Don’t hold your breath.

Meanwhile…… yesterday was NQIT’s Birthday.  (Alias Dear Hubby – he says that looks like I’m calling him “niquit” – sort of like nimwit – but I just see the letters in my head and not really a pronounciation of a word.  And I kind of like calling him the New Quilter In Town.)  Here’s how he celebrated:

Life is tough at our house, isn’t it?  Pretty nice when it’s a two-cat-lap day.  No worry about cold winters at our house.  With all that body heat, NQIT was burning up and shedding cats in no time.  But it was nice to see Boo and Miss Kitty getting along so handsomely.  At least while they were sleeping.

Happy Day After Birthday, Dear Hubby!
Love,
Dear Wifey, alias OQIT

Posted in Boo, classes, Miss Kitty, quilts | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Look What I Got!

Posted on January 15, 2011 by Barb

I have the best friends.  It’s not even my birthday.  But last night I received a special gift.

 

Isn’t the gift bag pretty?  And it was such a surprise!  My dear friend, Brenda, who reads this blog and isn’t even a quilter got me a really fabulous gift.

I know you’re anxious to see what was inside.  I love building the suspense…..

OK, OK….. it’s Pinmoors!  Remember when I showed them to you way back here?

DJ Stuff and Another Party

OK – so it wasn’t that long ago.  Way, way, way back on December 31.  Hey, it was last year.  Anyway, Dear Brenda saw that post and just thought I needed some.  I love my friends.

See how they work?  I used this fabric to show you the pins because it came from my friend Suz at our guild Christmas party.  And I just like it.

But they really show better on this nice muslin.  I can hardly wait to quilt something so I can really use them.  They turn ordinary pins into instant safety pins.  No more bleeding!  No more poked fingers!  I might just use them for everything.

Aren’t they cute up close?

So cute I had to show you one more.  I love up close shots.  I used lots of different pins so you could enjoy all the color.  It’s just the kind of gal that I am.  Bringing color into your life.

Did I mention I have fabulous friends?

NQIT’s birthday is just around the corner.  But I got a special present last night.  I have the best friends in the whole world.

And I can’t believe I now have to share my fun quilting things with Dear Hubby.  Alias NQIT.  He’s already planning how to use my new Pinmoors…….

Thanks, Brenda!

Hugs,
Barb
P.S.  For those new to the blog….. NQIT = New Quilter In Town

Posted in just stuff | Tagged , | 4 Comments