Finally, an update

Happy 2011 and Happy Birthday DAD! 

Interesting date today 1/1/11.  I wonder how many times I will write/type 2010 over the next few weeks? 

I finally have a quilting accomplishment to post.  Here is the center of the Star Crazy Quilt - done!  I really love the colors.  This is going to be great once it is really done.  Just 9 borders more to go.  I have to buy the fabric for the next inner border.  I wanted to pick the color after seeing how the center looked.  I am leaning towards a medium blue rather than green as shown in the pattern.

Here is an interesting picture from a trip to Boston.  The store front was lined with old sewing machines, it had nothing to do with what the store was selling.  I really like the reflection of the city in the window.

Well, not much sewing today.  Time to take down the Christmas decorations and make our traditional New Year day lasagne.  The hubby is taking advantage of the rare 44 degree temperature to take down the outside lights.  Much better than the usual chilly temps!

August Star Crazy Blocks

Here are the August blocks for the Star Crazy BOM. Eight months done, four more to go.  This month was 9 of the 6 inch blocks for the border.

Here are all of the 6 inch blocks that I have done so far.  Coming along nicely!

I also went to take some pictures of my garden today. This is my clematis.  I have had this for about 5 years.  Last year was the first time it bloomed.  Only one flower.  Look at what is happening this year!!  This is only one side of the plant.  There are about 30 flowers this year.  Yea!

This is a lily that I planted last year.  I love the colors.

And one last picture of a rose that is blooming.  This is a Tropicana rose, it smells wonderful.

Have a great day.

Another mystery solved

Yea!! I have finally gotten all of the pieces of the Yankee Pride Spring 2010 mystery quilt together.  We had a very nice Vermont summer day here which was helpful in the final push to get this done.  Along with the nice temperature we did have a windy day, which presented a challenge in keeping all of these pieces oriented in the correct direction.  I still have an inner and the outer border to still put on, but I love this quilt.  I have to say, this was a complete mystery for a long time.  The only thing I knew was that there were what felt like a million of those little burgundy 1 inch squares. 

The other finish that I have to show is another baby quilt.  A coworker of mine is having a baby any day now.  Maybe this weekend?  We will see if she is at work tomorrow.  When I started the quilt I didn't know if it was a boy or a girl, so I picked neutral colors.  I hope the baby enjoys it.  I was very happy with the results.

I will be back soon........Kristin

Star Quilt Installment

Time to get caught up with my blocks for The Quilt Show BOM - Star Crazy quilt.  I was able to knock June an July off of the to do list this weekend.

Here are the June blocks. There are also a bunch of half square triangles that I have finished, just no picture of those.

Here are the July blocks.

Then I decided to put all of the blocks that I have done (January through July) up on the design wall.  Since I am making all of my blocks from my stash, I wanted to check the color balance of what I have so far.

Last, but not least, I realized that I have all 13 of the center stars completed.  I wanted to get an idea of how my center would look.  There are still quite a few of the Irish Chain blocks left to fill this in, but I really like how the center of the quilt is shaping up.

I have started another baby quilt today.  Another woman that I work with is expecting a girl mid-August.  I made good progress today, and will enjoy the extra day off tomorrow to keep on plugging away.  

Happy 4th of July! 

Catching Up.....

So, did you miss me?  I sure missed bloggin!  April was a blur of a month.  Easter, school vacation, and little league started.  Whew...and now it is the middle of May?  How did that happen?  This weekend was a very productive few days.  I have finally made some big progress on my "to do" list.  Here are a few snaps of what I was working on. 

First up, the Star Crazy BOM from The Quilt Show.  These are the April and May blocks.  I also made 96 half square triangles to keep me right on track.  Now I can breath and wait for the June directions to come out.

Here are all of the blocks for Star Crazy for the year.  I love how this is coming together.  Still a lot more to go, but I think this is off to a good start.

Next up, the last 3 blocks for the 2009 Fat Quarter Shop Mystery quilt.  I have been working on the setting blocks, so hope to hve this one put together pretty quickly.  We will see about that though.

I also spent A LOT of time getting caught up on my Yankee Pride Spring 2010 mystery quilt, but those pictures will be for another day.

I also am working on getting the vacation pictures in order.  Here is a preveiw of what I have been looking at.  We made the big trek from Vermont to San Francisco for school vacation week.  It was awesome.  We had a really great time, saw the sights, and enjoyed the weather.  What a fantastic city.

Well, that is for tonight.  Need to head off to the land of nod.  Good night all.

How an Accountant solves a math problem....

If my books for math in high shcool had been based on quilts, it would have been a lot more interesting.  I can just imagine how cool Dr. Gorfin's geometry classes would have been if they had been about quilts!  Well, I just have to make my own entertainment with math.  I have been working out some math for a quilt that my Mom and I split.  So, the math comes in with trying to figure out how to best layout half of the blocks for each of the months of the year.  I didn't want to make this a 12 row long and skinny quilt because that just doesn't fit the walls in my house.  Here are the blocks (Mom made all of them and then sent me half, yes I am lucky). 

For a while I have been pondering how to best layout the blocks to suit my house.  I have finally decided to put two months together on each row.  This will make the quilt approximately 58" to 60", before borders, wide.  That works.  So, how does an accountant solve a math problem like this one?  Well, thank you for asking.  The answer is, of course, Excel.  I have plotted each of the blocks/rows out in a spreadsheet!

This is what math looks like in my mind.  Ahhh... the balance just makes me happy.  Well... that is what I am up to.  Have a great week...

March Update

Hi, I am back.  I had to go to San Antonio, TX for business.  It was nice to see another part of the country, and even nicer to be back home.  I thought it was going to be warmer in Texas, not so much.  But it was nice to see the sun.  Traveling is not easy at all these days.  I had 4 flights total (two there and two home), of the four flights, three were oversold.   I got bumped from one of them.  What a hassle.   Oh well. 

Here is what I have been up to in my sewing world since I have had time to focus.  I have completed my latest month for the Fat Quarter Myster Quilt.

  

I have also finished the March homework for "The Quilt Show" BOM.  I really love how this is turning out. 

That is it for now.  Have a great week.

Kristin