Oops! DAY 5, 6, 7 and 8!

You got me - I missed a few days.....Day 5 (Saturday), relatively the same as the ones that came before.  I had a surprise visitor in the evening, Liz dropped by with my favorite Iced Coffee and we hung out on the patio for a bit, then she was kind enough to take me with her to Metro where we both did a bit of shopping.  It was my first outing and to be honest, knocked me out.

Day 6 (Sunday) I took this picture so you can see what I'm up against - the monster behind the door......

Believe it or not, I'd already dealt with 3 boxes before I took the picture.  This is going to be a long, tedious process but it really has to be done.  I'm going to arrange for a locker to store all the boxes, etc. once I've got them sorted and under control.  My desk is now filled with papers that have to be dealt with, ugh!  I am slowly doing just that.

Day 7 (Monday) - I was really getting a start on all the paperwork along with deciding what to prepare for my trip to Sunnybrook on Wednesday for chemo.....when, well I'm sure most of you know exactly what happened, the lights went out.  They came back on briefly for about 20 minutes but then BLACK!!!!  I did play a little on the laptop because I had shut it down to save the battery power.  Poor Jonathan was working yesterday and today.  He came home around 8:00 P.M. to change clothes, he was soaked to the bone and then had to go out on a call almost immediately.  Today he's been taking each call while two wait in line - it's been crazy!  Most of the cars had been submerged so they weren't actually battery calls.....

I made it my business, once the power came back on to get back to the paperwork as well as prepare for tomorrow.  You would think I was going on a 4 day retreat.....I have every kind of hand work possible.

First - the binding....

Second - my Farmer's Wife - the ready row!

Third - more Farmer's Wife blocks - to sew, to cut.....there are 5 in the package and one still on my table in the bedroom.

Fourth and last - my 9 Patch Exchange project - the applique, machine button hole stitched.  I need to bring the threads to the back and finish them off.....

The colouring is really off on this - it is really gorgeous!  Of course it has to do with the makeshift "design wall" (white sheet on bed) and the lighting in the room!  I really, really miss the design wall......

So, I have loads to choose from and hopefully will get a little of everything done.  We'll see.  As long as I pack all the right stuff - I should be fine.

Okay, I'm expecting a friend momentarily so I gotta go!

Have a great day everyone!

Jo-Ann

Almost halfway there.......

So, I've been busy!  Another 5 blocks done and I've got row 4 almost completed.  It's very exciting.  I've even gotten started on that machine applique I wanted to get done but the Farmer's Wife continues to mesmerize me......

Here's Row 4, missing only one block which was completed this pass week.  I will now be able to complete the row and add it to the quilt top.....progress is a real motivator.

Block 27 - Darting Birds (52 pieces)

Block 28 - Duck and Ducklings (29 pieces)

Block 30 - End of Day (16 pieces)

Block 33 -Farmer's Puzzle ( 27 pieces)  This is the block that completes Row 4.

Block 36 - Flower Garden Path (42 pieces)  This one is one of my favourites colourwise.

So off I go to continue this obsession.....already moving on to Row 5......

Have a great day everyone!

Jo-Ann

At home....

I was so excited on Wednesday night when I finished sewing the last flower center onto my last small Lithia Park block - now I could get the borders on!  I laid it out on the bed and found "THE MISTAKE"!  I know it's not just me, we all do it and of course everything went downhill from there.  I started the unstitching to attempt the "quick fix", sewed it back together and really messed it up.  At that point I decided that this would need to wait for a time when cooler heads prevailed.....and into the "pile" it went!  You know the pile I'm talking about - you all have one too - I know you do!!!

So it sat in the pile and on Thursday night when I got home I busied myself with many other things and ignored "the pile" - I did say, cooler heads right!  (I was still very angry with that quilt top for not co-operating)....

Last night when I got home it was about 9:00 P.M. and I thought I could ignore the quilt a little longer but, alas, I really love that quilt and so with a cooler head I sat down and unsstitched again and fiddled and finagled until I got the centre of the quilt done - it only took a couple of hours as I also had to add the last row of the centre blocks which was what alerted me to the original mistake!  Now I only have the borders to put on and the top will be done...and then I will decide on a backing and binding, prepare the backing and binding, layer the quilt and put it in "THAT PILE" - you know the pile, the one where the quilts go that are ready to be quilted!!!!  They line up like little soldiers there on that pile, saluting as I pass by them, mocking me for my stubborn insistence that I will quilt them all myself.  Little do they know that I have a plan now!  I've always had a plan, I just never shared it with "the pile"!  My plan is to work simultaneously on my "to be quilted pile", my "to be machine pieced pile" and my "to be hand pieced or appliqued pile".....What???  That only requires 6 hands at once!  Where is the problem here?  Okay, so you are asking yourselves - how is she doing this?  (I also have knitting I'm working on!!!  A charity cancer shawl and a sock!)  Let me explain - I've got a plan!!!!

I usually make it home from the store by about 6:30 so I grab a quick dinner and from 7:00-8:00 P.M. I can quilt or piece and from 8:00-9:00 P.M. I can quilt or piece.  From 9:00-Midnite I can do my hand-piecing or applique work.  See - I have a plan!  Of course we all know about - "best laid plans"  but it's more of a guideline kind of thing!  Of course, there are still all those projects waiting to be started and that's another PILE!!!! 

Okay, that's enough for today - I am toying with the idea of starting a UFO Club at the store - you know, the kind where you have to DECLARE your UFO'S and then bring them to work on with maybe a compulsory Show & Share each week/month....Like I said I am toying with the idea!!!  Would you join - comments are more than welcome!

Have a great day everyone!

Jo-Ann

Phew.....

Talk about a productive evening....Last night I was like the old "energizer bunny"!  When I got home, I made a quick dinner and then got right down to work.

First I completed my September and October 9 Patch exchange blocks.....

Then I started cutting for a new store sample and worked until about 9:00 P.M. on that....you'll have to wait and see more later on that one.

At 9:00 P.M. I decided I wanted to get down to some serious TV watching - Thursday is definitely my night for TV - Grey's Anatomy, Elementary, Last Resort, Person of Interest and last but not least Scandal.  Thank heavens for time-shifting.

On Wednesday night I had used up the last of my Soft Fuse so the project I had started working on could not be completed until I brought home some Wonder Under (second choice).  I dug this up out of my stash, I had bought the kit when I was on a retreat in Pennsylvania at Critter Pattern Works back in 2001 but it really seems appropriate now and will probably segue into a machine applique class.

With the Pandas coming to the Toronto Zoo I thought the timing was good so I started making up all the applique on Wednesday night while watching TV - only had two pieces left to do last night and then needed to put on all the markings and adhere everything to backgrounds......here they are -

All ready to do the outlining with the machine......here are the individual patterns!  They are all so cute!  I marked them all and placed them and then during commercial breaks, went out to the ironing board to set them in place.  Worked out great!

All of the fabrics were included in the kit which was amazing but I think I will still be adding some of my own fabrics for the bamboo bits around the edges, also I'm not sure there is enough to do the border and I will, of course, have to find a binding and a backing....

Debbie at Critter Pattern Works has a great tutorial on her website for her machine applique method so I will practice a bit before I tackle the edgings.  It's been awhile since I did one of her patterns.....will post my progress!

Tonight is Sit & Sew - NO MACHINES ALLOWED night and it's going to be a crowd....gotta go start dinner!  I am going to try to get the last 4 blocks of my Lithia Park done and maybe work on some blanket stitching on one of my Lori Smith patterns....will post pictures later.....

Have a great day everyone!

Jo-Ann