We made it down to Branson yesterday with no problems. I have about 8 or 9 hexagons done from the travel down here.

My friend would like wall hanging for the condo with the Faith Quilt from Anita Goodesign. I think is will have a total of nin blocks. She was able to stop by my house on Thursday and we went shopping thru my batiks. I have them sorted by color group. We had a picture of the rug from the condo as well picture frame with the colors of the condo as well. I think we pulled about 20 different colors to take with us to the condo to spread out on the rug...we were surprised that from the matching from the picture as well as the frame were not the actual colors. Some of them are going to work others are not.

So tomorrow we are off to a store that sales paint. I found the best way sometimes is to get the color samples (which are free) and usually have 5 different shades of the same color. I can set it against the rug or wall color. This way we have a better chance of finding the fabric to match the paint color sample. I will take a picture and post it here to show you what I mean.

I used this when I was trying to come up all the different colors I am using on the quilt I am making for my bedroom. That is the blue and gray quilt that I have been posting the blocks of. I thought the paint had more gray when it really did not. By getting the paint color swatches I lined them up on the wall and stood back to find the color that matched the best.

I wanted to post a pictures of some of the blocks that I was putting together, but when we took my car in for service my phone dropped from my purse and a person took it. I confronted him but he denied it. It was the Iphone 5S and we tried to call it and he had already turned it off. By the time I could use the service manager's iphone to use "find my Iphone" the person had left so we could not here it being pinged. If you have an Iphone please, please, please, download the free app "find my Iphone" you can use another device to ping it if it is turned off, or in my case I can leave a message "Lost or Stolen" please call this number..then as soon as someone turns on the phone it will delete all of my information and put it back to the factory reset. So no one can get any of my private information. So I now have the new Iphone plus. I have backed up all of my settings but not the pictures yet.
I do have the pictures on my ipad so I will post it now. I have two of each of the blocks done so I have a total of 4 more pieced together.

Have a great day..I will post pictures of the color swatches I am talking about later after we get them.
Robin

Wow, I am impressed with you putting everything in the computer as well as where they are located. Do you have it in an excel spreadsheet? Then you can sort it per item type or location. I am still try to organize my room.

Robin

Cathy, I like your priorities!

I understand what you are saying Diane. I also have too many things without a designated place for them and they get put where ever there is an empty space. I am continually having to hunt for things I know I have somewhere. One of my resolutions for this year is to get organized, and stay organized. At least in the sewing room, the rest of the house I am not too concerned about.

While I may not do something quiltly every day, I do plan on doing something crafty every day. I have so many different crafts I like to do and want to learn, that it would be hard to just stick to quilting. We just rearranged our living space, and I have a larger craft room, so my first goal of 2015 is to get my supplies organized, and make lists of what I have. I seem to have this tendency to buy things on sale or if I think I might be able to use it "someday"... and then forget I even bought it. So I'm creating a database listing all my supplies, and where I put them in my room, so that I can look at my lists if I'm out shopping and see if I already bought something. If I can't remember where I put something, I can look it up on my database and find out where it is supposed to be. Then when I'm done using it, if I can't remember where it "lives" I can look it up to see where to put it back. (I tend to just stick things where ever I have room, then I can't find them the next time I need it.. so this is part of trying to get organized, and have "homes" for everything). If while I'm organizing my stuff, I decide to move things around, it should be easy enough to go into my database and change it's location, and keep that updated. Of course it is taking awhile to make my database, because as I'm going through my supplies, I want to stop and play with them... LOL I just organized my beads, and I can't stop myself from wanting to make something using all the beads I have.
So far, I have made lists of all my beads, machine embroidery threads, hand embroidery threads, and stabliziers. I have a lot more to go, but the good thing about doing this, it is reminding me of all the fun things I have bought and wanted to play with, and giving me ideas for future projects.

Robin,
Your hexagon project is going to be beautiful. You are right - the more you make, the better they look.
My hexagon project is a now a comfort to me when I have a headache. Get well soon.

Judith

Creativity is the best medicine. Your hexes are so happy. It would be hard to stay away from working on them. Feel better soon!

February 11th
Today was a long day. I have the muscles on the bottom of my feet causing me a lot of pain. So I went in to see the foot doctor..I ended up with steroid shots in both of my heals. While there I started to get a migraine so as soon as I got home I took a shot and went to bed. When I woke up i was still in a lot of pain so I used an ice bag and propped up both of my feet. So instead of sewing I decided to start working on the hexagons to see how I could organize them for our trip. I have attached a picture of the ones that I got done. I have not sewn any together yet but I put them in the shape of a flower. I went out later tonight and found a magnetic keeper that closes for my needles. I hope you all had a day with sewing today.




The hexagons are all 2" so I have been using the mini pack of alreay cut fabric, they are the perfect size, I think as I do them they are getting easier.
Thanks for the comments,
Robin

Robin,
Thank you for explaining about tile embroidery. It is way above my skill level, but I enjoyed looking at your embroidered tiger!
You are very busy. I hope you get enough rest. Disrupted sleep patterns are another migraine trigger.
Enjoy your trip to Branson. I hear it is a great place to visit. Hope you get lots of hexagons sewn together on the way!

Judith

February 10, 2014
Judith,
The tiger is 9 different tiles that are embroidered by my machine and then you put them all together. The hard part is getting them to all line up on all of the sides. It took 22.50 hours to just stitch out the design. Many needles and lots of thread changes. The tiger picture is stretched across framing bars to keep it tight. My next one that I am working on will be a pillow.

Last night and then today I was able to get another four blocks done and pieced together. Right now I have my sewing machine in the middle of the living room..so tonight it goes back up to the sewing room. While my husband was out of town it was easier to have it here. Grandma was working on her laundry and needs assistance. We also have two dogs that I have to walk at least six times a day. Husband wants the house cleaned, so up goes the sewing machine and fabric. This weekend we will be traveling to Branson, MO about 3.5 hours away. So out will come the hand piecing Hexagons to fill in the time. Our friends own a condo down there and she and I will be coming up with the colors to make a wall hanging. Hopefully we can pull from all of my batiks to get the right matching fabrics.

Thanks again for all of the comments, encouragement, and advice. I knew that I would get support from the TQS members.

Great new thread for the forum, Judith. Good work.

Not a lot of time now to comment, but I like your idea. One of the gals at the guild said she aims to do at least 20 minutes each day of something quilty. Seems to work for her and many others. Set the goals smallish and then more likely to finish the task.

Judith - sorry to hear about your migraines. I've had them almost regularly, but haven't had one in months now. Thank God! Yup, ice bags work. Hope you get over this spell.

Love your Tiger quilt. The stars look good too, hoping to eventually get to a blue & white quilt myself one day

If you are trying to use colours outside of your preferences, it sounds as if shopping is on the cards

Keep on posting, and we will keep on cheering

Robin,
Your tiger quilt is beautiful. Very striking. Please explain a little more about it. What is tile embroidery? Is your quilt one tile or several tiles?

I like your blue stars quilt too. Constructing stars in rows is a new idea to me. Does it make it easier to make everything fit that way?

I am a quilter who suffers from migraines also. I have one of those ice-cold gell bags that you keep in the freezer and designed for headaches. It helps me as much as migraine medication, without the side effects. If it is a bad migraine, I sit in an armchair with the ice-cold gel pack around my head, and the blinds and drapes closed to block out the sunlight, and do hand applique or knitting. It helps a lot. Thank God for sewing!!!

Judith

Judith

Robin~ it will be great to see everything you get done. Your work certainly looks beautiful!