"...in a time lacking in truth and uncertainty and filled with anquish and despair, no woman should be shamefaced in attemping to give back to the world, through her work, a portion of its lost heart." Louise Bogan, American Poet 1897-1970

Friday, April 29, 2011

Sideline II


     The three left blocks are not sewn together, but you can get the idea of what it will look like. It looks more complicated than it is and I like that about a pattern. I'm still not sure what the next two borders will be, but one will be black with white dots or the other way around.  I'm going to need to go shopping, because I don't have anything in my stash that will work. What a shame. NOT! 

     Have a wonderful weekend! Hope it includes something fun!
     Blessings, Deborah

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Sidelines

     I have been working like crazy on my Sidelines quilt the past few days. I only have two blocks left to go and then I can sew all the blocks together. I will take a picture at that point to show you. It will still need two borders and some embellishments, but I haven't decided what they will be until the final borders are added. I really like this pattern. My sister-in-law says it looks 3D and I agree with her.

I hope you have a restful and peaceful sleep.
Until tomorrow.  Deborah

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Happy Easter 2011

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter filled with lots of blessings, love, chocolate, colored eggs and fun!
Deborah

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Yai Yai's Mock Shepherd Pie

     5-6 potatoes
     1 lb. lean hamburger
     1 c. green beans
     1 cup corn
     1/2 - 1 cup sliced mushrooms
     2 pkgs. mushroom gravy
     1 tsp. oregano
     1 tsp. garlic powder
     1 Tbsp. minced dried onions
     Sea salt & pepper

     Peel and dice potatoes. Boil in salted water for 10 minutes or until done. Brown ground beef while potatoes are cooking. Add sea salt, pepper, oregano and garlic powder. When beef is no longer pink, drain and add veggies. If you use fresh, you will need to pre-cook the veggies or if frozen thaw them. I used canned. Add gravy mix and 2 cups of water. Simmer while you drain and mash the potatoes.
     Pour beef mixture into a cassarole dish.


     Top with mashed potatoes. Don't spread them smooth so the peaks will brown.



     Bake at 350* for 30 minutes.
     Well, even quilters have to eat. :o)
     I have enough leftover for tonight so I can quilt even longer today! Yay ME!

     Wouldn't it be nice if we could have lunch together today?
     Blessings on your day, Deborah
    
    

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Sneak Peek


     This is a square using the mystery mess strips. The five strips in the middle are the lavender and purple ones. Next to the black, they are hard to see.  The name of the quilt is "Sidelines" by Maple Island Quilts/Debbie Bowles. It is an interesting pattern and I hope it will turn out as well as I imagine it in my head.  You never know when you're dealing with my head. Heh, heh.

     I hope your day has brought you simple pleasures and many blessings.   Deborah

Monday, April 18, 2011

Done!

Done! It always feels so good to say that.  I quilted it with a simple stitch-in-the-ditch on one side of each white strip.  Someday I'm going to learn how to machine quilt.  I've tried without too much success, but I would like to try again.

I was away unexpectedly. Last Thursday I went to the hospital and was released Saturday morning. Everything checked out okay and I hope there will be no more of that!

I have chosen the pattern for my mystery fabric and will try to begin working on it today. All I could think about while in the hospital was getting home and starting the quilt. Can we say I'm hooked on quilting?!!

Wishing you a blessed day, my friends.
Deborah

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Spring Babies and the Next Puzzle Piece in the Mystery


     New Spring Babies have popped up! These are future Eggplants and Jalapeno Peppers.  Grow babies, Grow!!!!


      Here we have the Mystery Mess sorted and ironed.  It was wonderful once they were sorted, because I had no idea they were the light and dark of each other!  Six different colors and I know just what they will become.  A quilt, of course!  I'm not telling anymore for now.

     My new QuiltAlbum software came in the mail today and I am so excited!! This software will keep track of my quilts and all the info about them and I can make cards, labels and more using my quilts as the pictures. Really cool stuff.

Okay. I have a tablerunner to finish, a Mystery Quilt to start and a new program to play with.  I'm outta here for now!

May your day be blessed with wonderful surprises!
Deborah

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Just In...

     I was visiting p.s. i quilt and found out that there is a giveaway by Green Fairy Quilts for a fat quarter bundle!! A whole bundle of beautiful fat quarters! Pop over to p.s i quilt and check it out. We are talking about some very yummy fabric and did I mention it's a whole bundle of them?!! Okay. I'm a little excited. I have a granddaughter who would love a quilt made out of those fabrics.
     The links for both blogs are listed under My Blog List.
     Good luck.

A Mystery



     No, this is not my laundry. :o)
    
     I have been moving this bag of scraps from place to place around the room for over two years. It was given to me by a friend and I decided today was it's day to become something. It's a mystery to me, at the moment, how it will come together. I think the first order of business will be to sort them. I thought about keeping them in the bag and picking one out at time and just sew, but I chickened out. I like controlled chaos.

     Wish me luck.

     Could you leave me a comment and let me know if you are getting my postings. It's awfully quiet around here. I love comments. I live for them!!

Blessings on your day!
   

Sunday, April 10, 2011

UFO Wall Hanging

I thought I would share some pictures of the wall hanging I am making for my livingroom.  I designed this myself using batiks for the squares, my favorite fabric in the whole world, and adding a few elements that take a close up to see.



Yo-Yo with flower button



Folded corner squares


Prairie Points for mountains, also in next photo




Do you see why I like those batiks?!!


I have begun the hand quilting in a spiral around the yo-yo flower and will stop when I reach the wide brown border. Buttons and beads will be added later. More on this as it "blooms."

Wishing you blessings on your day and peace in your heart.
Happy Sunday!





                                                                              

Friday, April 8, 2011

Finish Up Friday

     My neighbor (aka: Best Friend) and I headed over the hill, approximately 30 miles from home, to attend Finish Up Friday at the local Quilt Shop. I drug along a Wall Hanging UFO that still needs lots of hand quilting and B.F. brought her sewing machine to work on a stack of UFO blocks. I needed a day away from home, dogs and cats, but most of all I needed a girl's giggling day. I got my wish. I had to pull the car over to the side of the road on the way home, because I was laughing so hard my cheeks were in my eyes and I was choking on the milk chocolate candy I had in mouth. It looked like we were both crying and started talking about what we would we say if an Officer of the Law pulled up. That thought only made the laughing get worse. Dang that was fun. Of course we also laughed at the shop, and when we went to lunch, when we came back from lunch...you get the idea.

I left this quilt at the shop to be quilted. There are only three ahead of mine, so it shouldn't take too long to get it back.  

"Tipsy Log Cabin Squares" is the name of this quilt.

Close up of one of the blocks.

Even with all the giggling going on I got a few rows of hand quilting done and it was a relaxing day out with other quilters doing our craft.

I hope all or some part of your day was equally blessed.



Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Plan for Today

     In today's line-up is another tablerunner. Summer's patriotic days are fast approaching, so I plan to finish this UFO I found hanging in my closet. I won't say how long it has been hanging around, but it has been awhile.



     The pattern is called "Nine Patch Gone Crazy," and I'm sorry I don't remember what magazine I found it in or who the designer was. If I can locate the issue I will post it later.  These were three squares left over from a Veteran's quilt. Below is a picture of the quilt. It was the first time I tried squares on point with side triangles. I was never the best math student, but luckily I found a chart for figuring those out on Victoriana Quilt Designs. She has all the math figured out for you. I have a link to her blog under "My Blog List," on the right side of the page.



Hope it is sunny where you are.
I believe in you!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

I'm Stuck

I've been pawing through my stash looking for inspiration for three projects that are floating around in my head. Our local guild has asked everyone to make a Needfill Quilt for the cupboard (see first post for more info on this project) and I have two granddaughters I want to make quilts for. Actually I have three granddaughters, but one I have all the fabric chosen and almost cut out. Maybe I should dig that one out and sew it together first. Now there's a novel idea. But seriously, there is a lot of fabric (according to my husband) in this room just wanting to be cut and sewn back together with other fabric and BE something. *sigh*
Maybe tomorrow fabric peeps. Maybe tomorrow.


This is one of the quilts I made for our local Veterans. It is called "Split Rail Fence" and is one of my favorite quilt patterns.

I had a surprise visitor on my Quilt blog and it made my day; Geta from "Geta's Quilting Studio." I have a link to her blog. She makes such beautiful things and is so busy and I am so honored she took time to stop by here. Thanks again, Geta. I've been smiling all day.

Are any wildflowers in your area poking their heads up yet? I saw some wild violets in my yard. If you were closer to me, I'd pick one for you.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Monday, April 4, 2011

Borders Finished

 
     The borders are done! I like it, if I do say so myself. All it needs is backing and binding.
    
     I've been reading blogs by other quilters, knitters and crafters of all sorts and I am so impressed by the talent of others. Creativity flows through this earth like water.  We should never be afraid to try something or be ashamed of anything we have made with our own hands. Just my opinion.

Today I will be spending some time with my other passion - gardening. I need to get some seeds started to be ready to go in the vegetable garden around the first of June or maybe sooner. We have a short growing season where we live, so I need to get them planted in the little mini greenhouses I bought.

Be good to yourself.
Happy Monday!

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Summer Batik Tablerunner


     This is a tablerunner I am currently working on. It is from the book
"Let's Do Lunch" by Atkinson Designs (atkinsondesigns.com) called
"Seven Layer Salad. I modified and made only 5 layers, because I wanted mine a little shorter.
     Here is a picture of the 5 layers completed and a white border added. It is laying on top of fabric that will be the final border. They look like they were made for each other, eh? I plan on finishing this today.

What are you planning to work on today?

Did you know...If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it!
Happy Sunday!

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Intro

I LOVE QUILTING!!
What can I say? I feel I was born to quilt; my creative reason for being so to speak.
I make quilts and quilted items for family, friends and charity. Our local quilt guild has made quilts for soldiers and sent them to Iraq and two years ago we made a quilt for every Veteran in our area. We make quilts for children in our local shelters and we have Needfill Quilts on hand to give to people who have had a home fire and lost everything.

My blog title, "Quilting Yai Yai" doesn't mean I can speak Greek, although I wish I could. My father was Greek, but never taught me how to speak the language.  Yai Yai is Greek for grandmother and I am blessed with eight grandchildren - 5 boys and 3 girls.

Tomorrow I will figure out how to post pictures and share some of the quilts I've made.

Do something nice for yourself this weekend. You deserve it.