A day at the lake...

Yesternight I posted about completing my quilt class project... So without further delay I present to you... A Day At The Lake....

Ta-DONE!

So earlier this cool evening, (it's 52 degrees in Northeast Kansas!) my wife posted on her blog that she finished her class quilt.Well guess what? So have I... And I've even finished one of my PIF items, and it's really super-cool-neat-o too! and did I mention BIG? Ya'll know they grow stuff big here in Kansas! I even started working on PIF goodie #2. 'Morrow afternoon I'll post some pics of my work, but not the PIF goodies, I'd hate to spoil the surprise.

On to my next project....

Well... PIF....

My friend Trudi is the recipient of one of my PIFs.. So in keeping with the PIF spirit she's going to PIF to three people. Head on over to Trudi's and leave her a comment and you could possibly be on the receiving end of a really super cool neat-o item from the United Kingdom. Now how cool is that, an imported PIF?!?!

WTF Myrtle?

Wow! It's 2:30am (CDT) and I've just about finished organizing our stash. For those of you who don't know, my wife is a quilter also! She's the driving force behind the recently born Disconnected Stitches. Go check it out and tell her I sent ya!

Anywho back to my WTF.... We recently purchased 2 bags of fabric at a thrift shop. Kinda a lets see what we get when we get home type of deal. It's been sitting in my living room chair for about a week now and it was time to go through it! While going through the fabric we found small pieces about 1 1/2 inches square folded in half and taped with masking tape. WTF Myrtle? C'mon do you really need to tape the ends together? I won't go into the ones with the tape and a staple!!!

This episode of WTF lead me to invent, coin, birth, or whatever you wanna call it the term Psycho Sanitize. It is a Verb. Past tense is Psycho Sanitized. Definition: To tell someone of a encounter with a person or item that lacks common sense or a reasonable explanation.

Lemme use it in a sentence for ya...

After dealing with all that fabric I'm going to have to Psycho Sanitize so I can get some sleep.

And thus, you've just read my Psycho Sanitization. I feel much cleaner!!

Have the best Friday possible.

PIF... It could be you!

Okay, so here's the deal...I'm PIFing.... Thats right this is based on the movie Pay It Forward. I'm to Pay It Forward to 3 of you lucky readers since I am on the receiving end of the PIF from Rosa. So the next 3 peeps that leave me a comment, and who I am able to contact for their address will receive from me, a totally neat-o freebie. And yes it will be quilting related. The only thing is, you have to pay it forward giving to 3 others. Its a ramdom act of sensless kindness!!!! So if you're up for it... Leave me a comment.. The first 3 comments get the freebie...

Due to commitments already in place, your freebies will be mailed next Wednesday.

And no Brooke, you can't enter.

I'm just a guy who...

Loves a Give-A-Way!!! Ryan over at I'm Just A Guy Who Quilts is having a really neat Give-A-way. He's Got a 2010 Sewing Day calendar with over 100 projects to
do.

Get over there for your chance to win...

Image used with permission!

Those NGQ tiles!!

I've been "playing" with the NGQ tiles that Raymond has come up with. I've branched out into a 16 patch block. In some ways I'm seeing a clown face. In other ways I haven't got a clue what it looks like.


Tell me what you see..

4-1-4-1-2M-3M-2M-3M-3-1-4-2-4-1-4-1

If you haven't got a clue what the above code means, join the NGQ tile addicts group. You'll learn more about them, and how to use them, and most importantly take your quilting skills up a notch or two (4 notches in my case!!).

9 patch fish

My mission for today was to work on my quilting class project:



I'm to take these strips....



and turn them into 9 patch blocks....



Why o' why is there always 1 that gets screwed up???


I guess I could take the advice of the 80's group Milli Vanilli and BLAME IT ON THE RAIN (and yes, that song is playing through my computer as I type this). Of course it hasn't rained here in a week...


Happy Quilting

More Free Stuff!

Thats right my readers, tis I your fat lipped blogger with yet another great give-away by Bonnie over at Calamity Jane's Cottage!! Click here for all the juicy details!!

It's Monday!

I managed to get a little quilting done this weekend. I worked on my quilting class project a little, getting the 12 blocks put together in 4 strips.  Played with Raymond's tiles too! That was  late Saturday night into eary Sunday morning. Sunday night while serving dinner, I tripped over the hellion and ended up breaking a sauce pan with my face. I have a fat lip that is roughly the size of Texas. At least at this early hour it doesn't hurt all that much. If this is the worst thing that happens to me this week, it's going to be a good week!  There are a few more give-a-ways in blogland, read my two previous posts for more info. And I'm up to 15 followers!!! Thanks!

Want some free fabric?

Yes dear readers, Frummie is giving away two 2 yard cuts of fabric! Get over there and leave a comment.

Another great Give-a-way!!!

Elaine over at Faithful Quilter is having a Civil War Give-A-Way. Click on over for your chance to win!!

Shhh Don't tell dad!!

Is me, Bob-bo the cat. Dad is quilting or should be anyway. I'm looking for treats. You see treats? I know he keep treats near here. This picture of me, cute isn't me???

It's done!

The top is done! After rushing to get the blocks done over the weekend I managed to get the blocks together and the border on. Now I can scratch this quilt off my list.

It measures 113 1/2 inches long by 83 1/2 inches wide

Now on to my next project

Yet another Give-A-Way

Happy Sunday afternoon to you! A fellow blogger over at Rosa's World is celebrating her 250th blog post and you're getting the gifts, maybe. Follow her directions and you could be on the receiving end of FREE STUFF!

A Saturday well spent

Good day to you faithful follower. I'm here in the wee hours of a stormy Sunday morning to tell you I made progress on my Jacob's ladder. The blocks are done and I've decided that instead of a 5 x 5 design to go with a 4 x 6 design as it looks "finished". All of the blocks are sewn into rows of 4. After I join all the rows I'm adding a 5 inch dark brown border that matches the light colored fabric.

It's almost DONE!!!!

This is a surprise....

Part of the birthday block. And Yes, all fabrics are Moda!!!

Have a great day!

Support groups and a whole lotta fun...

A few days ago, my friend and fellow blogger Raymond gave away a set of his design tiles from his upcoming book Beyond Symmetry. Since the giveaway,, he has posed questions on his blog and given out short lessons on their use. Since that time a "support group" has been formed to provide even more help and information. If you'd like to join this group, hosted by yahoo groups, click here . If you don't have a set of tiles and would like a FREE SET click here and leave Raymond a comment and he'll email you a set.

Why don't you all just go to..HOLTON!

Alright my readers, tis I your humble quilter back from the days travels. Our first stop today was Holton Kansas. We managed to take a few minutes out of day to stop at Quilting On The Square. Mark and his wife have a wonderful store. Lots of fabric and patterns. They even have a "man" fabric section filled with cars, motorcycles, flames and even planes. This is the shop that has the $5 BOM. $5 for 12 blocks isn't a bad price!!!

On our way back to A-town, we stopped at This Ol' House, located north of Nortonville Kansas on highway 116 . WOW!!! This place has it ALL. 1600+ bolts of fabric, a long-arm machine, several quilts on display (some over 100 years old!), orginal artwork,books of poems, and several stories told to us by the owner, June. On our next trip out that direction we'll definately be stopping again.

Do I have to mention we added some fabric to our stash? I didn't think so!

Another great Giveaway!!!

Thats right my peeps. Rachel over at p.s I quilt is having another giveaway. What better way to medicate the Quilt Pox than with a $50 gift certificate to The Quilt Shoppe?? Get over there and follow Rachel's directions...

Aunt Sadie (revisited), fair quilts and garden tractor pulls

Thats right my quilting kiddos, I (along with my wife) visited Aunt Sadie's Quilt Shop again. The service was again OUTSTANDING!!! My wife is constructing a baby quilt, in black on white, white on black and red print fabrics( the soon-to-be child's parents are Nebraska Cornhusker fans, but we won't hold that against them). For me its easy, I see something I buy it. My wife on the other hand knows what shes looking for even before we step into a shop. We were looking for only 5 fat quarters and the staff of Aunt Sadie's went way out of their way to help us, even referring us to other quilt shops in the area (they even tried to contact 1 before we drove to it.). We did manage to get 3 of the 5 FQ plus a little bit of other fabric. The hunt for fabric is worth making stops at all your LQS's in my book, it stimulates the local economy as well. Aunt Sadie's is my favorite quilt shop. They have the BEST staff around. And they'll even help a guy without busting his chops like some people at the local Big Box store. Aunt Sadie's is located in the same place as last time, if you're in the KC/Leavenworth or Topeka area, drive over to Winchester and say hello, they're open Thursday and Friday 10 to 5 and Saturday 9 to 4. Tell 'em you read about 'em on my blog. And no, I don't get anything if you do tell 'em.

After returning home, we decided to venture to our county fair. We managed to see the entries by the local 4H clubs as well as individuals. We got to see the 25 quilts that were entered this year. Kind of depressing if you ask me. Think I'll throw down a challenge to my guild at our next meeting just to see if we can't get more quilts entered.

We also watched grown "boys" hook their garden tractors to a sled and see how far they could pull it. Some of them looked as if they were serious about this sport. I overheard a conversation from one participant that said his modified tractor had $7500 wrapped up in modifications. My favorite was the all pink tractor (named the pink panther). The custom paint was great and the back of the seat read "You just got smoked by a girl". And she was pulled from the audience to compete against guys that could be her grandfather and she came in 3rd!

All in all a busy day but I didn't touch my machine or even think about my current quilt. I will this weekend I promise.

It's WAY to early for this.

As I sit here typing, it's 8:03am (central time) I've been awake for about 20 minutes because my power was out (through the magic of the power company I can sit here and type this). As soon as my air conditioner shut off I woke up. I figured I've only had 2 1/2 hours of sleep, why not get up? I got dressed, fed the cats and sat in front of my machine to finish up my Jacob's Ladder blocks. HELLO!! Hey Greg, no power.... Duh.... I wish I had one of them there Singer Pixie machines, they have a battery option. Granted it is only 4 AA batteries but hey, I think it would of lasted the duration of the outage.. Now that I have power back, I'm going back to bed. Jacob will just have to wait.

I've reached a milestone! Yes dear readers I now have 10 followers!! Yippie!!! I believe she's my first international reader as well. Thank you!

What a way to start Wednesday.

Have the best day possible!

These Nacho Grandma's Quilts

Hey Kiddies, Top O' the Sunday to ya!

My friend Raymond is giving away a freebie. It's totally addictive, has 0 calories, 0 Transfat, is biodegradable, and the best part... IT'S FREE!!!!


Click here, here, or HERE for more info.


Happy quilting!

The aftermath of Saturday

It's over. Saturday is history!!! It didn't start out too bad, just went to bed at 3am, and got my butt out of bed at 6:30. Left the house at 7:25 to make it to our BOM "meeting". Half way there, my wife and I noticed we forgot our blocks from last month. Thats the thing, The whole quilt top will cost you $5 (for 12 blocks.) IF and thats a BIG IF you

a.) Pay $5 starting the 2nd weekend in June.

b.) Show up once a month on the 2nd or 3rd Saturday of the month

c.) can drag your butt out of bed and be there by either 8:30 or 9:30 am.

It's no big deal, but you have to be alive enough to function that early! But alas, we managed to get to the 9:30 meeting (there are just under 400 people doing this BOM!!) even with our delays. Had a great breakfast ala Big Mike at Big Mike's Diner, managed to find some handmade chocolate goodies before we traveled back home to passout for the afternoon. I'm happy to report, my BOM is done. Enjoy the eye candy.

Abundant Stupidity

Okay, so this isn't an update as to my quilting activities, but I gotta get this off my chest.


While shopping my local big box store, I stopped in the fabric department to see if they had anything I couldn't live without. Ended up with just under 9 yards of green fabric in 3 different prints. It was $1 a yard! Gotta love when the Big Box decides to get rid of their fabric department!! I even talked with the 'cutter" and found out she's got a long-arm and is only 10 minutes away!!! Now onto what chaps my ass, steams my clams, and just down right pisses me off. While waiting for my new fabric to be cut, some "lady" (I'll use that term to be nice) demanded (not politely asked) to know what a man was doing in the fabric department. I told her I was a quilter and she proceeded to argue that no guys quilted. When I told her that I was even a one-armed quilter (I have a mild disability). She got all torqued up and said I couldn't be a quilter and left with out her fleece.. I have two words for you lady.... BITE ME!

End rant.

have a great weekend everyone!

Quilting Stimulus

Thats right kiddos another fine quilting blogger is giving a way free stuff.


Click here but do it quick, you have 'til August 10th to sign up.

Hurry.. What are you waiting for? It's FREE STUFF!

Climbing Jacob's Ladder

After spending a few days away from my current quilting project, I picked it back up today and made decent progress. I did find however that of the 135 6 inch blocks I managed to sew only 2 together incorrectly!!! I am so happy about that. I hate spending too much time with Jack the (seam) Ripper.

I have my BOM meeting Saturday and the way it looks my wife and I will be hitting the 8:30am session. Keep in mind it's about a 1 hour drive each way for us. So I have to get up early!! ARGH! and on a Saturday too... Oh well, it could be worse.

Happy Quilting!

Quilting & Jimmy Buffet

Okay okay okay.. I know what you're thinking, and NO I have not actually been quilting with Jimmy Buffet. I have been listening to Jimmy Buffet while quilting though. Thats right, I cue up some ol' Jimmy and quilt most of the day away. His album Buffet Live: Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays gets my machine going and before I know it, the quilt top is done. So I pose to you, dear reader, this question; What music, TV program, or <insert motivation here> gets you in the quilting mood?


Your life is an occasion... Rise to it!

I survived Saturday with a bunch of my extended family. I took my finished quilts photo album and got all kinds of ooohs and ahhs. It makes a person feel good when they know someone likes their work. After getting back, I managed to finish my HST's so now all I have to do is put the pieces together to make the blocks. It shouldn't take too long to finish the top. Then I'll have to find someone to quilt the monster as its too big for my machine and I don't have a long arm,YET!

Happy quilting!

HST's are half D-O-N-E

Thats right, I got my butt out of bed after TWO early morning phone calls and decided I had time to get some work done on my Jacob's Ladder quilt. I got 50 of the 100 HST's done in less than 2 hours. Thats impressive to me as usually at this time, I'm not even out of bed yet, let alone functional enough for quilting activities.