WIP Wednesday - Piano Keys

 Happy Wednesday!  After a rainy Tuesday, I'm hoping to see some sun today.

On to another WIP Wednesday report...

Resurrected:  I was tidying up the sewing room (I don't actually sew there - it's become primarily a storage area) and came across a growing stack of piano keys (2.5" x 10" rectangles).  I had calculated that I would need 150 to make a border for the Three by Three swap nine patches.  More than 100 were already cut, so as I filed away some fresh fabric, I chopped off a strip.  In no time, I was ready to stitch. 

Sewing them together into borders went fairly quickly.  Monday morning, I figured I'd slap them on and be done.  Not so much.  That's when I became reacquainted with my seam ripper!  I had put one side on backwards. rip rip rip. Then I wasn't happy with the corners.  rip rip rip.

Please ignore the junk on the end tables.  People live here.

I'm mostly happy with it, but it's too small to fit on my bed.  I need at least another 4-5" all the way around.  I could add another row of nine patches and white, but I wish they were inside the piano keys.  rip rip rip?  I think I'll make a bunch of nine patches and see where that takes me.


Back Burner:  I played with all of my 4x5 blocks this week. Yay! Then I piled them up and put them away.  boo. 

Now off you go to see what else is happening in WIPland...

Naked Bed Challenge

I joined the Naked Bed Challenge today!
Why is it that everyone else has a quilt on their bed except the quiltmaker?!

I have been planning to finish my three by three swap quilt as a bed quilt for Bill and me. This challenge will give me the push (and deadline!) that I need! Two more small borders have been added since I took this photo- one with pieced squares and another solid white. And I've started cutting for a wide piano key border. I'm trying not to repeat fabrics in the border. Fun!


My bed looks so bad, I'm showing it to you in shame. Faded, ugly comforter. yuck. I bought myself the floral pillowcases recently to make me feel a little better.

I think I might need a fresh paint job in here when I get the pretty quilt done. I do all the painting around here and I love it! Pete's room is at the top of the list, so my room will need to wait.

Are you sleeping on a naked bed?

I Sewed!

Yay! I finally had some time to sew. I made a list of what needs to be done this fall and it's not pretty. Well, the finished quilts will be pretty!

First up: Three by Three swap blocks are almost a completed top.
I need to decide on the border(s) and if I'll quilt it myself or give it to a longarmer friend.


Silly long-arm story:
At our last Guild meeting, I was asked to read a blurb about an upcoming guest speaker aloud to the members. As I tired to focus, I had to move the paper farther and farther from my face. When I finished reading about this award winning long arm quilter, a friend said:
"Tina, it looks like you've become a long arm reader!"
Hahahahaha!

While I was waiting for my new washing machine to be delivered yesterday,
I finished my Geese in the Forest blocks. I'm hoping to get them sewn together today so I can pull off the paper during Pete's game tomorrow.


During the Mentalist, I laid them out and pinned them to my foam core design wall.
When Bill got home from DC late last night, he said "It looks like a forest."
He's so smart.

Not sure if I mentioned this before-
I don't like paper-piecing large blocks. The original patterns for 6" blocks were just enormous for me, so I reduced them to 3". Without borders, the top will finish at 30", my favorite wall-hanging size.


I need to call Sears this morning to mention that as the washer delivery guy was bad mouthing the salesman, he was hooking up the water lines wrong. I set the washer for a COLD wash. I went in a few minutes after it finished, and the laundry room felt like a sauna! Bill reversed the lines this morning, so I'm ready to spend the day attacking Mount Washmore.

It's going to be a crazy fun weekend.

• Drum lesson and Boy Scout popcorn sale after school (P)
  
• Marching band at the football game tonight (J&P)
  
• Baseball game tomorrow (P)
  
• Airing of the quilts at Cranston Historical Society (1/2 mile from baseball field!)
  
• Silver Award - last few hours of work (J)
  
• Sunday Mass and religious ed class (J&P teach 1st grade)
  
• Firefighter's Parade (J&P)
  
• Praise! rehearsal (J,P &B)
• No School Monday- hurray!
  
• Drive to Providence with Silver paperwork
  
• Celebrate J&J's 2nd anniversary.
  

We will enjoy every minute!

Procrastinators Unite...Tomorrow!

Did you know that tomorrow is Fight Procrastination Day?! I can't wait! Hee hee. I crack myself up. I might need to buy the t-shirt.


Julia is getting down to the wire with her Girl Scout Silver Award project so she's busy sewing heartstrings blocks together. The apple didn't fall far from this tree! We do love a deadline.


I added white sashing to my three by three swap blocks, like Amandajean's layout. We really liked them all up next to eachother, but this will make it big enough to be useable.


I learned how to purl! There was a prayer shawl ministry meeting on Thursday night, and I decided I wanted to knit this new shawl, instead of crocheting. I knew how to do the knit stitch, but the pattern is K3, P3. So I googled "how to purl" and watched this video. I'm still getting used to holding the yarn in my right hand, but I'm enjoying the process.


Pete and I went to the Farmer's Market this morning and thoroughly enjoyed our lunch. I made a tomoato sandwich (tomato, mayo & salt) on fresh carrot, black olive and dill bread. YUM! Just look at that bread!


I'm happy to have some flowers on my tiny rose of sharon. It's at the back of the yard and the deer nibble on the new leaves, so it doesn't have much opportunity to grow.


Tomorrow, I'll be finishing up a Craig family block for the Union College 215th Anniversary quilt that has been on the list all summer. What's on your list for Fight Procrastination Day?

Design Wall (Floor) Monday

I've been wanting to show you my design wall for months, but this is what it looks like all the time. When Pete moved his drum set in front of my design wall, he was knocking blocks off and getting pins in his back! So all the random blocks were moved to the left and I need to use one of the portable "walls" for current projects.


The last batch of 16 blocks arrived last week from the Three by Three Swap.


I started laying out all 48 nine patches, randomly as they came of the pile.
(The portable wall is a little too small, so I kept it flat on the floor.)


Then I kind of arranged them by color. There's lots of green (which I love), and virtually no yellow. I'm not sure if I'll sew them together with or without sashing. What do you think? Pete thinks it's cool. High praise from a 13 year old boy!


Julia got a little time in with the QOV Heartstrings blocks today. Many more hours to go.


School starts tomorrow! Yippee!
The new Chuck Taylors (and the kids wearing them) are ready to go!


I'm looking forward getting my house back in order!