Another Birthday!

 Yesterday, I spent the day with my family.  We had a good lunch together and spent some time together.  Isabel got some great pictures of us, too.

I'm very thankful for my family, especially my daughter-in-law's.  Isabel made the cake and cupcakes.  They were delicious!

It looks like I might be blogging again

 It looks like I might be blogging again

I've lost control of my Facebook account on my laptop and Facebook won't give me a new one
that's the short version of what's going on
I've appealed (the new account) and I lost that appeal

at some point something will happen to my cellphone and I'll be locked out of Facebook forever

I've been thinking about life without Facebook and Messenger
they're connected and I figure I'll lose them both at the same time

I've been spending a lot of time on youtube and more time on sewing

but, I miss having an online voice/connection from my laptop

April is a very busy month and there are always a lot of distractions

I've cut out a top for our granddaughter today and I'm also working on a quilt top from 6 packs of charm squares

 HELLO!

I'm back!

I'm working on a special project
I was gifted some wonderful fabrics from Hawaii

I'll post more once I get a little further in the project

disappearing 9-patch quilt-a-long

this weeks step will cover making the 9-patches

sort your 120 square novelty prints into 4 equal groups
place those squares in the 4 corners of a 9-patch layout
place your neutral squares between the novelty squares
and
place your tone on tone squares in the center

take the squares in the top row to the sewing machine
piece them with a 1/4" seam
return them to the layout

take the squares in the middle row to the sewing machine
piece them with a 1/4" seam
return them to the layout

take the squares in the bottom row to the sewing machine
piece them with a 1/4" seam
return them to the layout

the last step for this week is to sew the 3 rows together with a 1/4" seam
and press the blocks

Debbie's disappearing 9-patch quilt along

Disappearing 9-patch Quilt Along

I'm sharing the quilt above here on my blog.
It's my original layout.

This is the 2nd quilt I'll be making with the same layout and block size.
My quilt will have 30 disappearing 9-patch blocks, they will be made with 5" cut squares.
The quilt will also have a border (same fabric as the center block or not your choice).

You will need 30 tone on tone fabric 5" cut squares for the centers of your 30 blocks.
You will need 120 background fabric 5" cut squares for the 30 blocks.
You will need 120 focus fabric 5" cut squares for the 30 blocks or 120 different novelty fabrics 5" cut squares

The quilt will be full size.

I will start piecing this week and update the blog with the next step soon.

how I start moon flower seeds

I've had trouble starting moon flower seeds in dirt. 

  I've used this method several times and it works out well for me.
I start with 2 larger, thick paper towels, I put the seeds on them.

 I fold in the corners of the paper towels.

 The shape ends up being small enough to fit in a quart size zip-lock bag.

 I add water until the paper towels are moist.

 I put the bags in the laundry room on the washer or dryer.
I check the seeds in a few days and look for germinating seeds.
Once the seeds germinate, I plant them and keep the ground moist.
I love growing these plants.

red onions planted today

this is what I planted today
I'll have a 22' row of red onions and a large pot of them
I should have onions in about 3 months

polar fleece socks for the new rubber boots

I found these rubber boots Sunday and I wanted heavy socks for them
I made the socks with left over polar fleece

the pattern is at the following link
http://www.cedesign.com/familyphotos/sewing/holidays/fleecebooties.pdf

I added 2" to the top of the sock top pattern
since I'm planning for these socks to be used in the rubber boots

getting back into it/seed treatment

I miss blogging
so I'm going to get back into it
yesterday I worked on a gardening project
I'm going to try to grow red bud trees from seeds
you have to treat them (soaked in vinegar for 1 hour, rinse them) and then put the in the frig for 3 months
I have them in a container with moist Perlite
on April 27, 2014
I'll take them out of the frig and start planting them

shortarm quilter for sale

John Watts Quilter for sale  $1,000

Shortarm machine quilter

-includes Juki TL-98Q (with needle up or down & thread cutter-see red button), John Watts frame with king extension (detachable velcro leaders), commercial bobbin winder (not shown) , 2 folding tables & accessories (bobbins, needles, & feet)  (fabric not included)

if interested please leave a message here

John Watts Quilter for sale

ok,
my John Watts Quilter is for sale!
I replaced it
I'm selling the above frame, with king extension, 2 folding tables, a Juki TL-98Q, & a commercial bobbin winder
for $1,000

if interested or if you have any questions please e-mail me

thanks & take care, Debbie

did you miss me?

well, things got hectic around here and I got out of the habit of blogging
I'm back
I have so many projects that I want to work on
I'm looking forward to blogging again

YEAH! I finished something!

I bought 2 of the fabrics in April of this year for a pillow case. They were washed and while I was procrastinating getting it made I found the fabric for the cuff. I finally got it made today. I laid it out on our grandsons bed and picked up my camera. When I looked at the screen this is what I saw! Jake is quick! Jake's master is at summer camp. Jake misses him.

The pillow case turned out really cute!

Design Wall Monday-July

This is the current project on my design wall. It's a UFO and it may be twin sized when I get it finished. I'm making it from my 3 1/2" strip boxes!

Design Wall Monday-July 1 day late!

This past week all the designing has been on EQ! I got hooked on this block thanks to Elizabeth. I modified the block and I've been playing with it. This is the 1st design that I have come up with. I have no idea what fabrics I would use or if I'll make it at this point. I'm just having fun playing with the blocks.

Design Wall Monday-July 2 days late!

I'm sorry about the delay. I had these blocks up Monday but, I got the picture today. These are some old blocks that I got from my mom while on vacation this year. They look like sample blocks that were made to try a pattern out. I'm planning to make a quilt with them. I don't have all of them on the design wall. I've decided to make a sampler with the blocks. I need to make a decision about some of the fabrics in the blocks. A few of the fabrics have age spots and a few are very thin. I need opinions about this. Should I replace the fabrics or not?

Design Wall Monday-June

Better late than never! This is the design wall area above my sewing machine in the sewing room. The art in the top right hand corner was a gift from our grandson. The blocks are some blocks I made that were inspired by blocks made by Tammy Simpson. Someday I hope to have enough blocks for a large bed size quilt.

Design Wall Monday-June

This is our grandsons UFO. The top is finished with some help from me. I hope to get it quilted soon! It's simple, cute and close to being finished!

current Project-Strip Quilt FINISHED

This is one of my current projects. I got it bound tonight. It's really cute and I really hate to give it away. This is a blurry detail shot.

Design Wall Monday

This weeks design wall Monday is on the cutting table. I'm making a small quilt for our grandpuppy, Jake. I plan to make the letters out of the brown tone on tone fabric in the picture. The letters will be placed diagonally, fused and stitched down.

The dog biscuit print is adorable. I think I bought it at the Bay Area Quilt Show. I'm anxious to get this little quilt made.