KatyQuilts

Yesterday was a travel day. I had one delay but I still made my connecting flight so it was all good. I really love to fly! I always try to get a window seat. Mr. Wonderful upgraded my ticket so I had window seats all the way.

I have no idea why those green fields are circular or even what state they were in, but I think they are beautiful.

Someone got all dressed up to meet me at the airport!

I think he was wondering who this crazy lady was jabbering away at him on the way home!

Baby L is such a sweetheart and a very good baby. It was such a joy to read to him and rock him to sleep last night.

Time to go snuggle with my boy!

My sewing plan for yesterday was to finish taking apart shirts and finish the Quilt of Valor top. I got the shirts done but then I couldn’t resist cutting just a few!

Then I had to sew just a few.

Then I thought about an English Paper Piecing project.

This would be fun for my trip, right?

Good grief, I must focus! So much to do before I go!

Linking up with Kelly for Needle and Thread Thursday.

Amy over at 13 Spools started a link up called 10 Quilty Little Secrets. This is all about airing our dirty laundry regarding the quilty rules we break or ways in which our quilting goes against the current norms. This seemed like a fun idea. I also remember when I started quilting being rather afraid to share at quilt guild meetings and such because I was quite fearful of the quilt police! I have been sewing long enough that I no longer care. If something works for me, I will do it.  So here goes:

1. I like to hand piece and then machine quilt the hand pieced top.

2. I sometimes have twisted seam allowances in my tops and never go back and fix them.

3. I can’t stand cutesy things. You won’t find Heather Ross in my stash.

4. If I mess up a pattern, I rarely rip stitches, I would rather change the pattern.

5. I have used serger thread for piecing. My Featherweight really likes it. I have quilts I made more than 20 years ago and have not fallen apart under heavy use  even though I pieced them with serger thread.

6. I always iron things into submission with my iron on the highest setting with tons of steam.

7. I join my binding strips with a straight cut, never a bias cut.

8. I buy most of my fabric online but I am not a fabric snob. I will use anything that will get the job done and do what I want it to do. This doesn’t mean I use poly/cotton blends or questionable quality  material. I have bought some good stuff at the thrift shop.

9. I sometimes use sheets for quilt backs.

10. I hate jelly rolls.

First quilt, pieced with serger thread 26 years ago, washed hundreds of times. Still hasn’t fallen apart.

Head over to 13 Spools to see ever9one else’s dirty laundry. You know you want to!

It is turning out to be a crazy busy week around here! So much to do before I head out of town. The QOV top is getting closer to being done. I just have two more long seams and borders to add.

I did actually purchase fabric for a border for this way back when. Now I am not sure I like it all that much.

The colors match the hand dyed fabrics I used in the blocks quite well.

But it doesn’t look very patriotic. I like my QOVs to be patriotic. If I can’t find anything else in my stash, this will be it. I can’t justify the time or money to go shopping for border fabric when I already have something. Especially since I don’t see myself using this fabric for anything else.

I have gotten a few more shirts taken apart. I can’t wait until they are all pressed and I can start cutting. I am thinking that might not happen until I get home.

I still haven’t finished the binding of my little blue and brown 9 patch. It may be my travel project.

Housecleaning, more laundry, and some packing are on the agenda today before work so I better get to it!

Linking up with Lee at Freshly a Pieced for WIP Wednesday and Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts for Let’s Bee Sewcial.

I haven’t made a Quilt of Valor in a few months and decided it was time to start something new. While digging through fabric, I found some 9 patch and rail fence blocks for a QOVF that I had set aside at least two years ago. I had to make a few more blocks to get enough. Maybe that is what stopped me.

I would like to get this top together before I leave the end of this week. It would be nice to come home to a top ready to quilt.

Yesterday was mostly spent canning with Daughter #1. We made salsa, tomato sauce, and spaghetti sauce.

I wish I had gotten a picture of all our jars together. I think we had over 30 jars by the time we finished.

Little man enjoyed time with grandpa and was good as gold.

Today is my long day at work. I need to get the laundry done since yesterday was spent canning. I hope to get a few rows together on the QOV. So much to do before I go!

Linking up with Connie at Free Motion By the River for Linky Tuesday.

I finished the nail polish quilt and will share that later this week. I also played with my 9 patches this weekend.

I didn’t do a lot of rearranging of the blocks, but I did find a perfect fat quarter for borders.

I got it basted.

And started quilting.

I hope to finish this this week.

I also have an idea for another shirting quilt. I have added a few of my husbands shirts to my stash so I need to “debone” them as Bonnie Hunter would call it. She has a great video on YouTube showing how she does it. Check it out here. I thought my method was good until I saw her do it! Her method is way easier! Good thing, I have a pile to do before I get to the fun stuff.

Linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times for DWMonday.

I haven’t forgotten the nail polish quilt I started. I marked it:

And quilted it last week.

All good, right? Not really. I used a washable Crayola marker to mark the quilting lines. I have used these before without issue. This time they bled and didn’t completely wash out. Ugh! It is my own fault for not testing. I washed it a few times with Dawn dish soap and that took care of the worst of it. It will have to be good enough since someone “helped” me by throwing the laundry into the dryer.

I started binding it a few days ago. Today I will finally finish it.

Linking up with Kathy Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday.