Ahhhhhhh.......SPRING! In February?

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 Ahhhhhhh, SPRING.  In February?  Wow, this dosen't happen in Reno for another few months.  The ground cover is blooming, Trees are budding, I even have Crocus up and soaking up the sun.

I just had to get a picture of the Iris Art Quilt I made in a Donna Greenwold class laying on the blooming ground cover in the front yard.  A picture perfect day!

I know, yes I know, we  have to have some more gray days before Spring is REALLY here, but look, just look how happy  this makes you feel.  I pity the people back East their Cold and Snow, but THIS, our Western SPRING makes me Happy!

And just in case  you wanted a close up of my Iris... Here it is.  Yep, I'm just a little bit proud of this one!

Dreamy Hexagon's Part Three

Blog 45

Finally back to the "Dreamy Hexagon's" the Medallion quilt I'm making .  As you saw, a few blogs ago ("Turn the water off!") my sewing room was flooded. It set me back a bit (a BIG bit!).  At least this first part of the quilt has a lot of handwork so I could continue on.   

Parts 1 and 2 of Dreamy Hexagon's were in my Blogs in January. We last talked of preparing the hexagons to sew into frames to go around cabbages in the fabric named Brasica, or you can use a floral fabric. My fabrics all come from a kit so I'll use the cabbages.  Plus, I just LOVE the cabbages in Brasica.  A little hint, I found the "Wonder Clips" very helpful in holding my Hexagon's together while I sewed. 

Here are my finished frames and my Brasica fabric.  I looked hard to find 7 different cabbages to cut out for the frames and then had a hard time deciding which color frame to use with each cabbage.  Can you say "INDICISIVE"?

I starched and pressed the hexagons, then removed the hexagon papers from the back.  As you can see in the Green frame I have one paper left to go.  I used little scissors and tweezers, it was like playing the game "OPERATION".  Don't kill the Hexi's.

I appliqued a frame to a cabbage (See the pink frame in the photo) using silk thread that matched. Now I have 6 more frames to go.  That should keep me busy for a while.  

Remember, this is a Medalion quilt so the fancy time consuming work is in the middle of the quilt.  After this, it should be a piece of cake!  Yeah, Sure......

Happy Valentines Day Quilts

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I am here with my Valentines Day quilts to share with you.  Happy Valentines 

Day to all my Valentine Quilters out there. HUGS!!!!!

This quilt served two purposes. 1. It was a wedding gift for my Sister's Granddaughter Abby.  What better Wedding quilt to give than one with red hearts?  2. This quilt won third place in a quilt challenge at my old quilt club in Reno.  The Challenge was to create a one color quilt.  The color was determined by a crayon drawn from a paper bag. I drew red!  Yea!!! .  You could add white or black to the color to make it darker or lighter.   I had picked up this pattern in a bargain bin for $1.00.  My small quilt retreat group "The Serenity Sisters" took a field trip or mini shop hop to find all the fabric we needed for our projects without telling each other what the quilt would look like, telling only the fabric colors we were looking for.

This project was fun all the way around.

This table runner was for me.  It is a Nancy Halvorsen pattern of interlocking hearts machine appliqued onto a patchwork of various off whites.  I Love my little hearts, they came out so cute!

This mini-quilt is also a Nancy Halvorsen design.  I made two of them, one to put up on Valentines Day and one I made into a pillow and gave to a dear friend of mine.  I think the little pink buttons really add to the quilt.

Happy Vallentines Day Everyone.

Turn the water off!!!

Blog  43

Remember that we remodeled our new house to create a quilting studio? We were in a state of chaos for weeks of construction until the new enlarged space was finished. After it was all over, I was in a state of Bliss with the new room and I was ready to decorate.

I even named it "My Blue Heaven"

For my Birthday, I asked my Daughter to help me with the final touches to the room, she's very good at construction projects.  I needed my quilt racks put up, my design wall hung and a few shelves installed.  She drove the 2 1/2 hours over to spend 3 days helping me do whatever I wanted done to finish off the room.  Even being here on my Birthday to help me celebrate.  What a great gift!

First, up went the two quilt racks.  Next the two 4' x 8' sound boards and trim to make the design wall.  It would be eight foot by eight foot - be still my heart. Once the last screw went into the second board I heard a tiny sound. Then there was moisture on the wall.  Then we saw a trickle of water coming out of the wall at the screw.  We backed out the screw - THEN IT WAS AS IF THE FABLED LITTLE DUTCH BOY PULLED HIS FINGER OUT OF THE HOLE IN THE DAM! Turn the water off - Turn the water off!!!!! We ran around turning off all water knobs we could find and flipping off the electricity. Where in the &%$*%$@)#! is the water turn off???  My Daughter looked around the yard and house while I called my husband.  Ring, Ring, Ring. Come on, Come on, answer, No answer, I left a message EMERGENCY!! COME HOME!! We couldn't find a shut off valve.  We grabbed waste baskets and started a bucket brigade.  I called 911.  Help, my house is filling up with water.  The 911 operator sent the fire department.  She asked me where the water turn off was and I was tempted to say "If I knew that, I wouldn't have a problem!" but I held my tongue and said "I DON'T KNOW and my husband is at the Rec center and is not answering his phone."  She got the rec center phone number for me.  I called and asked someone to tell him to come home.  Still working on the bucket brigade, the firemen arrived and asked where the shut off was.  My Daughter and I rolling our eyes at their question. Yeah, you know what I was thinking and wanted to say, but instead I said "I DON'T KNOW!"  They continued looking for it for what seemed like hours, while my Daughter and I hauled water buckets! My husband arrived and went to the valve at the street meter but it was too hard to turn so he got tools from the garage for the fireman to turn it off.  It finally stopped!  My Daughter was soaked.  She took the brunt of the water spray.

THERE IS NO WATER TURN OFF other than at the meter.

  That will have to change!  Now to assess the damage.

The Insurance company had us call a company to come out to dry things up.

The room is now full of fans and a dehumidifier.  Once that is over we will contact a contractor to start the restoration process.

It could have been so much worse.  In the grand scheme of things just a bump in the road.  It sure made for an interesting afternoon.  My Daughter will be back for another play date with me and we will try it again.

Meanwhile, I suggest you find out where your water shut off is before you need it.  There may be a water pipe in the wall where it shouldn't be.