Liberated logs and baskets

I have been wondering and trying to decide what and how I was going to  teach my scholarship class at Ogallala this year.  I took two classes from Gwen Marston - Liberated log cabins and Liberated Baskets.  When I was discussing this with my mother, she came up with the wonderful idea of using the log cabins for the basket.  ding, ding, ding we have a winner!!!   I made two log cabins with orange strips (different fabrics in each) and made one yellow cabin.  These were all from the scrap pile that I use to make "fabric" with for my intuition quilt.  I pulled some brown fabric from a stack of fabric that has finally graduated from the pile by the sofa and made it up the stairs and into my quilt studio.  I had thought I was going to use it for squares in the 6 inch square swap from a couple of weeks ago and decided that I didn't want a solid brown.  It's no really solid, but kind of muddled.  I used a different teal fabric for the handles on each of the baskets and sashed it with a brown/orange/yellow/green fabric that for some reason I really, really like.  (I have been on a brown/orange kick for a little over a year now).  I was going to make the border a large strip of that fabric, but decided that it needed a kick.  So, I went through my teal drawer and pulled a fabric that has little bitty silver strips in it.  The selvage says the fabric was made in 1999 so it is a bit on the old side, but I am so glad that I have it because it works perfectly here.  Now to decide how to quilt this baby.  I want to have a completed quilt for my project instead of just a top like last year.   Now that I think about it, the year before I had three - count them - three completed (that means quilted and bound!!)  quilts for my solids class.  Last years wasn't quilted because I couldn't decide . . . . okay, I won't lie, it wasn't quilted because most of my tops aren't quilted. 

My Intuition is not working right now

Now to make this section squared off I am adding one more piece and then I think I am finished. I need to make this one fit in on the angle with the top piece. So that means more grabbing and sewing. There, got it now to see what size it needs to be

Boo Hiss!! It is way too long and I don't think it is square at all. I thought I squared it up correctly. Maybe the other side isn't square? That is a possibility. However, here is the question of the day: "Do I want to add more to the right hand side or do I just cut off the majority of the bottom of the left side?" Another question is: "Is this the same size as the top part or do I need to take a bit off the side? If I take some off the side, then which side do I take it from? Do I just need to add some to the top if this is too big?"

HEADACHE!!! I have looked at it, added a pink strip between the two sections since I think one of them is not exactly square and I have measured the top part. It is smaller than this bottom part. The good thing is that I didn't put a black/white strip on the right hand side of the top part and can add on there if I want. The bad news is, that I am not going to get this done this weekend since it is wider than it is long and I will definitely have to add some to the bottom right side to get it at least as long as it is wide, if not longer. So, back to the sewing machine.

In the meantime, while I was contemplating this quilt, I made a few blocks for the dot, stripe, plaid request from Victoria. Here are a couple of the blocks I will be sending on to her for the donation quilt. Wait, those aren't correct. I have since slashed across the larger one, it was looking like two halves just sewn together, and added in a different corner piece. I have also made another block this morning as a delaying tactic to working on the Intuition quilt.

Oh, the weather outside is . . . Delightful!!

Yes, it is. Even though we have snow on the ground and the temperature is 16 degrees with a windchill of 3. I don't have to get out in it!! School was cancelled today. Hopefully it will be cancelled tomorrow, also since it hasn't gotten warm enough to thaw out the ice on the roads. I think the ice will be worse tomorrow since the heat from the cars/people that are crazy enough to be out and about will melt the snow/ice. The temp will re-freeze it immediately and then - poof - more ice and more danger. It is crazy here when there is snow and ice. Since we rarely see it the people in this community don't know how to drive on it . They still go their 50 or 60 miles an hour in a 35-45 zone and decide at the last minute that they are in the wrong lane and zip across three lanes of traffic to make their turn on the other side of the road. (no turn signal to boot!) I don't like to get out if I don't have to on days like this just because I know the crazies are out there and I am glad that I don't have to today.

Here is a picture out my upstairs window of the lake yesterday afternoon. I have never, in the 9 years I have lived in this house, seen the lake frozen over. I mean, completely frozen over.


This second picture is from this morning with a layer of snow over the top. It is beautiful, but crazy. It was 79 degrees on Monday!!

Thank goodness I went to the store Monday, with all the other people that live in this town! I just put on a pot of beef stew in the crock pot and can't wait until tonight when it will be ready. Unfortunately I didn't have enough beef broth to put into the stew so I cheated and used chicken broth and a little bit more beer than I had intended. That was interesting. Going to the 7-11 and purchasing beer. I asked the clerk if there was a smaller one that I could purchase individually than that large 32 ounce (I think) can, but there wasn't. I think he thought I was not all there. Of course, I probably wasn't totally all there since I had just spent a couple of hours fighting the crowd at the grocery store.

Now, on to playing in the quilt studio to work on my intuition quilt. I almost have the third quadrant done. I need to take some pictures of it so I can blog about it here and at 15 minutes play.

MonAmi Top Finished!

The Mon Ami top is finished for the Le Petite challenge. I have finished (not quilted) all of the challenges on time so far. YEA ME!! I don't think I have ever done that. I don't like to put my creativity on a deadline and it is a struggle to get everything in on time. If I were just doing this one challenge, it would be different. However, I was working on 4 different things during the month of January and this is the only one totally completed. The Intuition quilt is in progress and flowing very nicely. I just need to take this quilt off the wall and put back up the bits and pieces for the lower quadrants of that quilt. The next thing I was going to do in January is the Monochromatic quilt from Patchwork Times. The color drawn was yellow and I found a bunch of nice yellow FQ's on clearance at The Quilting Patch in Midland. I came home, cut them into fat eights to share half with my mother. Unfortunately that is as far as I got on that one. I do have to say that I wasn't' planning on making the entire quilt in one month, only about 8 or 9 blocks. Then, at the end of the year, after making that many blocks from each color drawn each month, I would put them all together in a single quilt. So, all is not lost on that one, yet. The color has been drawn for February and it is violet. I can make both sets of blocks and be back on track this month. (Plus the new challenge quilt, the intuition quilt, the retreat quilt, writing the pattern for my class quilt, etc., etc., etc.) I am really hoping that it rains and freezes all night so that they will cancel school tomorrow and I can stay home and quilt. That would be wonderful. Except tomorrow was already going to be wonderful in the fact that the majority of my students weren't going to be there anyway. Drats!

Design Wall Monday

Here is what is on my wall(s). I actually have two walls going. I have the first two quadrants of my intuition quilt sewn together and I am working on the next two quadrants.

I can't decide if I want one large section or two separate sections for the bottom half of this quilt.

First Design Wall Monday

I know I am jumping the gun, but I really have been wanting to participate in Design Wall Monday this year and this is the first one I remembered. So, here is what is on my design wall. I will blog more about it and the process at 15 minutes play in just a little bit. This is the second and third quadrants of my intuition quilt.



For more Design wall inspiration go to Judy's at Patchwork Times.

Playing around

I have been working on a couple of quilts and ideas this week along with trying to still fight this "flu/cold" bug. I finally went back to the doctor today and got some more medicine. I am a little afraid to take it with all the warnings on it "may cause diarrhea", "may cause diarrhea up to one month after taking this medicine" (what?) "do not take within 24 hours of taking ....vitamins" Scary!!! I should have taken two doses by now, but since I take a daily vitamin, I haven't taken any. I am tempted to call my doctor back tomorrow and ask for something that doesn't make me sick in a different way than what I am now.

I have had my hair up in a ponytail for the last two days (except to sleep) and when I took it down tonight I shook it all out and felt wild. I wondered what I looked like. So, I picked up the camera that was right in front of me and took a picture . . .

LOL!!! I need some lipstick/lip coloring. They are extremely pale. However, I think it looks like an art picture. I like the eye peeking out. I may change my picture on facebook. My mother hates the picture I have now, I doubt she will like this one any better. Look for her comment below and see what she says.

I have been playing almost everyday for at least 15 minutes and this is what I have been working on since I last blogged. I am still in the middle of the intuition quilt project. I did one quadrant then took time off and stitched together some scrap strips into a rail fence quilt. Since it was all in the same pile on the table, I thought I might use that as one of the quadrants and put the other section back up on the wall. hmmm. Not sure about that yet. They will definitely swap sides if I do use it.

So, I started on another section. Pulling in some of the same fabrics and playing. Here is from two sessions at the sewing machine.

I found some more of those 9 patch blocks and put them on the board all together. I am going to go in there and move them all around here in a minute and break them up. I don't like the entire block, but may leave some of them together.


I put the intuition aside last night while I was watching the BCS game (TCU should have been playing in that game.) Personal comments aside, I started pulling fabric to make the Mon Ami from the le petite challenge for this month. I plan on working on this at our quilt-in starting Thursday. I decided to make it out of solids and I am happy with the choices I have made.


I was so excited that I just had to make one block just to get me started. Only 24 more to go. Now, off the computer and back to the intuition quilt.