Orca Bay Part 3...Madeline's progress...age 13

 All 350 hst's are DONE! 


And...52 qst's (hourglass blocks) are finished. 


Not too bad....for this week's progress. 


It's a good thing there are still a few clues yet. Madeline is working very hard...and I know with confidence that she will have all the parts done when she needs them. 


She went with a dark gray pindot as her black and this aqua swirl as her neutral. Should look great with her scrappy purples (red) and scrappy neutrals blue).  




I think even she is amazing herself at the amount of tiny blocks she has made...Even though this will not be the biggest quilt she has ever made...it will contain the most pieces! 


Way to go Madeline...keep up the good work! 

Orca Bay Part 3...Kristina's progress

Well...I didn't get too many hst's done this week...but I did manage to finish 1/3 of them. I helped Madeline though on her mystery. She made a huge dent in her fabric. 
Do you think my pinks (neutrals) are too varied in color? I sure hope not. 


I also was battling the flu...but I feel much better now...so I plan to cut more triangles...and start sewing. Isn't it something how when your body aches all over...even sewing doesn't help?






I leave you with this...
Here is picture of our local movie theatre...

A sign of the times...perhaps??
I never thought I would see the day when this would close down! 

From small quilted Wallhanging, to...

Pillow!


I will enjoy this so much more as a pillow. Carol from patchwork in the desert made this great little top for me quite a while back. It measures 19" square.


It is sewn with little patchwork squares stitched to a foundation and is meant to be raggy when washed. I love the colors. I don't have much wall space for hanging quilts...and thought I would get more use out of this if it were made into a pillow. 


I recall reading a blog a long time back about using button-down shirts as the back of pillow covers. I searched and finally found which blog I had read...modify tradition. I took her idea and used it to make myself a pillow cover that would fit an 18" square pillow insert with the shirt front as the back...and my quilted piece as the front. 


I cut the shirt front into a 17" square...then pinned it to the edges of the quilt. Yes...the quilt bowed and puckered a bit as I pinned...but I wanted the quilt to fit around the edges of the pillow insert and not to be even with the edges. Make sense?


I love it. Now I can use my quilt and be reminded of my dear friend. Thanks Carol! 

Orca Bay Part 2...Madeline's progress...age 13

I was so excited when my 13 year old daughter Madeline decided to join in the fun of the Orca Bay mystery. I had to beg, plead persuade her a bit to join...especially when she saw how small the pieces were in Part 1. But since I told her I would help her complete those units, she decided to go ahead and get busy with Part 2. 


She did a great job. Her strings were larger than called for...some up to 3" wide...but none the less...blocks are blocks and she finished this step on her own. I am so proud of her. Her colors are beautiful too that she picked out. 






red - purples (scraps)
blue - neutrals (scraps)
black - black w/gray pindot (one fabric)
neutrals - aqua print (just one fabric) 


I will show the fabrics when Part 1 is complete. 


Madeline has been quilting with me for quite some time. I would say 6-7 years now. She has completed many quilts and even uses my longarm to quilt them herself. She loves to draw, has a beautiful smile, is hard-working and is a sweet girl! I love her...and am so proud of her that she is working on this mystery with me. I can't wait to see how her quilt develops. 

Orca Bay Part 2...Kristina's progress

Here are my brown 3-1/2" string blocks...all 72 of them.

 I did these a bit different than Bonnie described in her directions. I started with an 8-1/2" x 11" piece of junkmail. Don't we all get junk in the mail? I then started piecing my strings...most of which were cut down to 3/4" to 1-1/4" for more variety. When I was done  covering 12 sheets of paper...I removed the paper, then trimmed them to 7" x 10-1/2"..which after being cut down even further, yielded 6 mini string blocks the size that we needed for this part of the mystery. 

Orca Bay Part 1...

Done! 224 QST's made and waiting to find their place in this quilt! 

Isn't this the prettiest 'mess' you ever did see? I loev these colors together. These are the trimmings from my QST's...and NO...I didn't save them. 

I shifted gears from my original color scheme. These are the colors I am now using. 

red- aqua/teal 

blue - brown 

black - black

neutral - pink/salmon

I think I will like this color scheme better than the white originally planned in place of the red. Also, I went with fabrics that read more 'solid' for my teals, pinks and browns. 

To follow along and make your own Orca Bay quilt...read here! 

RRCB...Quilted

This quilt took me nearly a year to finish...but I did it!

 I did a topography type of meander quilting on it for texture. I LOVE IT!


I built a scrappy backing too. I love the back. It is fun! 

Orca Bay Mystery...Are you sewing along?

In case you haven't heard, Bonnie Hunter has done it again. It is the time of year where Bonnie puts out another mystery. I just love her patterns! This one can be found at Quiltville's Orca Bay Mystery!  The first clue posts Friday, the 18th. I can hardly wait. 


But, first, I have to quilt my RRCB from last year. It is going on the frame very soon...like, tomorrow I think! It may not be bound in time for this new mystery...but, by golly, it is going to be quilted! I am determined. 

My favorite blouse inspired the colors I am going to use for this quilt. Since I generally prefer to use black and white in my mystery quilts...this is going to be perfect! I will add in White with Black accents...and Black with White. Whatcha think? Doable? I say, YES!

On a side note...our Varsity Football team is going to the State Championships! 
Go Bobcats! Go! Fight! Win! Go Blue and White! 

Brrr...it's cold!

And it is still snowing! 

Tonight is the first playoff game for our undefeated high school football team. Let's go Bobcats! Win it! 

UPDATE: The Bobcats remain undefeated. 47:0 against the Lynx. Way to go Cats!! 

High Desert Mystery Quilt Pattern...

FOR SALE on Etsy.


It will be sent as a pdf for those interested. Just click the above link and take a look! Type in Coupon Code mystery in the code section of your etsy order...and get 10% off.

This is just a preview of the pattern. To see some tops made from the pattern, please check out the Flickr group photos here.




Thanks for looking. 

Homecoming Dance!

Taylor went alone to the dance. She has a fun, positive attitude and had a great time! 


Paisley brown, cream, teal dress and Converse Dr Seuss high tops. 


Green Eggs and Ham anyone? Or...as her shoes read "Do You Like?"

It's Homecoming! Go Bobcats!!

And it is snowing. The bonfire is cancelled, football and soccer practices have been cancelled, and hopefully...the snow will stop so the remainder of the Homecoming activities can continue as planned. 


The High School kids are supposed to have their parade today, varsity football game tonight, and dance on Friday night. 


Taylor is going stag to the dance. She will look great though, check back to see pictures. She opted for converse high tops and a halter style dress. 


Having been raised in Texas, Homecoming meant Homecoming mums. There is no such thing here in Nevada. How sad! Sooo, this mom decided to start a tradition with my kids to make them Homecoming wrist corsages. The girls will get a handmade corsage each year of High School, and the boys (when they hit HS) can give one away to a female friend. I have already made one for Taylor, and she will wear it to the dance.

County Fair - QUILTS

The County Fair was this weekend. I am really proud of my girls for finishing their quilts. Maybe next year we can have even more items to enter into the judging. Taylor needs to finish her quilt and the boys each want to make one too. 

Madeline's Orange Butterfly Quilted Pillow - Grand Champion

Madeline's Flower Power Pastel Quilt - Third Place 

Madeline's Purple/Black Jelly Roll Quilt - First Place 

Kristina's Brown/Pink Batik 1600 Quilt - First Place

Kristina's Colorful Squares Quilt - First Place

Devin's Scrappy Squares LOVE Quilt - Grand Champion 

Close up of Ribbons

Devin and Kirt standing near Devin's quilt

This dress I DID NOT make...but I do love it. A friend of mine made it. It is made from selvages. I sooo badly want to make a selvage skirt. Wouldn't that be FUN!!!! 

Taylor's 8th Grade Promotion!

This is really overdue...as Taylor is about to start high school! 


But as a Mom...it is never to late to brag on your children! 


Here is Taylor at her 8th grade promotion ceremony. 
















She walked away with many honors! 


- Honor Student for 6th, 7th and 8th Grades - Cumulative GPA 3.5 or above


- Presidential Educational Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement - Mathematics


- Presidential Educational Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence - Cumulative GPA above a 3.5


- Elks Student of the Month...she received an Elk antler with her name carved into it!  


- Perfect Attendance for 1 year of Middle School...she only missed 3 days total the entire three years! Not too shabby. 


We are very proud of her. She is a beautiful girl inside and out! She has many friends, is very active in school activities, sports, and is a good student. Her hard work certainly paid off. 

We love you Taylor!