At last, getting some things done!

Yeah!! About time I got it together and finished a few things. Actually, I had the Hunters Star wall hanging almost done and decided I didn't like the way the quilting looked so I spent a whole day unsewing it and did it over ;-(

I just love the Project Linus quilt - had to have a close up of the caption - just too cute.

Finally is a quilt that is going to Scott AFB. My guild has been working on quilts for the military personnel returning from Iraq and Afganistan that are in he hospital at Scott. Most of the quilts are red, white and blue but I thought someone might like the camo.

As for the rest of my life, let's see, my DH got the stitches out of his naughty finger and it seems to be healing nicely. MIL is home and doing well now that we (hopefully) have her meds straightened out. Kids and grandkids are apparently doing okay, although they probably wish it weren't so hot and humid. Ah, the great Midwest in summer - can't beat it. I would love to go camping but it just isn't much fun when it's this hot. Guess I'll just stay inside and sew.

What should I do?

Okay, the thing is, I love the look of a scrappy quilt but can't seem to get my head around making one. I have used jelly rolls and fat quarter collections and they worked out fine because someone else was picking out the fabric. I'm afraid if I try to do it myself I'll end up with just a mess of things that don't look right together. Should I just jump in and try it; cut, say, 5" squares of a whole bunch of my scraps or just stick to what someone else has put together because that is where I am most comfortable. (sigh) How do YOU decide what to use to make a scrap quilt?

Great Family Get-Together

We had such a wonderful time in Tennessee with my sibs and their spouses. I wish we could do this more than once a year but time and distance make it very difficult. We stayed at Montgomery Bell State Park near Nashville and it was very nice. Great food in the restaurant! (that is always a prime consideration with my family) Every room at the inn has a view of the lake; so pretty.
We got home just in time to spring my mother-in-law from the hospital. We may have found a family member that is willing to stay with her at night and part of the day, cook for her and just generally keep an eye on her. Right now, that is all she needs and as her situation changes then we will have to adjust the arrangements. She needs to be home where she is happiest if at all possible.
A friend of mine has a Flynn Multiframe Quilting System that I am going to buy because I need a faster way to get my Project Linus quilts finished. She is upgrading to a larger machine and frame so she is giving me a really good deal on the Flynn. I can hardly wait to test drive it.
Not much else to report - I'm still dizzy so I may need to have my doctor try a little harder to find the cause. Sometimes it is like "Oh, well, it will go away". Come on. Let's see what else we can do, okay? Anyway, TTFN

Gingko

This is a quilt that I made during my Oriental period. There is a wonderful shop in Lansing, Iowa called Yellow Bird Art Co. and that is where I found the pattern and several of the fabrics. I managed to find most of the rest online and I just love the way this turned out.
My Frayed Edges group met today and we really had a great time. It's so neat to see what everyone else is working on. They helped me pick out borders for my Fall Block Exchange quilt and it is turning out quite nicely.
I started cleaning out my sewing room and now it is a worse mess than it was! I'm beginning to think that I just need to take EVERYTHING out and then start from scratch. Instead of a folding table, I would like to have two 2-drawer filing cabinets with a kitchen counter top on top of them and it needs to be about 8 feet long. If I could really have what I want, I would take up the carpeting and put in hardwood flooring; however, that's not gonna fly. In fact, nothing will happen for a while because my poor hubby almost cut his finger off on a lawn mower blade. He had sharped the blades and was putting them back on when the wrench slipped and he hit his "naughty" finger on one of the blades. He went to the emergency room and has to go back in tomorrow for an orthopedic surgeon to repair the tendon that is cut 3/4 of the way through. Ow, ouch, oooh! It's always something.

Don't look up, don't bend down

Have you ever had vertigo? You don't want it, let me tell you. It's amazing the number of things we do without even thinking about it and then when you can't do them it's like "what the heck??" I woke up last weekend just as dizzy as all get out. Holiday weekend, couldn't get in to the doctor until Tuesday. Wednesday went for a doppler ultrasound of my carotid arteries. Got good news today, arteries are fine, just an inner ear thing. Apparently the rocks in my head are out of place ;-) So I bounce from wall to wall all the way down the hall and when I lay down the room spins like I have been on a cheap drunk. (can't afford an expensive drunk) I am able to sew as long as I don't move my head very quickly and I can use my embroidery machine - just be really careful when I lean forward to thread the needle. Ah, life can be so interesting.

Small tablerunners

I found the pattern for these tablerunners while I was searching for something else and just had to stop and make a couple. I seem to have trouble staying on task as I was supposed to be working on something else but they were so easy that I couldn't help myself.

I'm glad I did them when I did because I woke up Saturday with a case of vertigo and haven't been able to do much since. Since this was a holiday weekend, I couldn't get in to see my dr. so I'll call tomorrow for an appointment. Being dizzy is not much fun (although my DH thinks I'm dizzy most of the time).

I guess I'll go to bed - in this case bed is the recliner because if I lay down flat the room spins. Not a good feeling at all. TTFN

I hate to do bindings

I really hate putting bindings on quilts although I do a fairly decent job of it. Most of the time I put them on by machine but for my brother's quilt (see above) I sewed it down on the back by hand. It just looks prettier, I think. I'm so glad I had plenty of time before the reunion to get it done! It was machine quilted by a member of Frayed Edges, Erika Phillips. She does an amazing job and when I want something to look it's best, I send it to her.

I'm putting the binding on a quilt for Quilts of Valor right now. Erika machine quilted it also and used stars and loops. Beautiful!!

I'm about to the point that I can start quilting the quilts that I pieced in Florida this winter. I really need to get them done so I can put the plastic totes away in the garage. My sewing room is never going to get cleaned up if I keep putting things off.

That's it for today.