Old Post: Dec 28, 2012... a Finished Jane Top!

***Note, this is from my first blog which got overtaken by a spam virus, and I ended up shutting it down. While reading through Feedly (where I read my blogs), I discovered when clicking on my old blog (I never unsubscribed my old blog) I could pull up old posts.  I am thrilled because now I can place certain posts here and save them.  I will have this note on top of any post that is from my old blog****

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**update 8/2014: Here is a link to my finished Jane Quilt.  After encouragement from friends, I decided to go ahead and enter Jane into The Evergreen State Fair in Monroe (runs Aug 21-Sep 1).  Hopefully she at least wins a 6th place ribbon :)  I entered it as an intermediate, but I am nervous about that as this quilt includes 14yrs of skill building, meaning perfect points may not have always happened.  On top of that, this is the first time I have ever entered anything in for judging (aside from when I did 4H rabbits as a kid).  I have had quilts sent to the Houston show for special exhibit, but that wasn't judged... I think I just have something against being judged :)  When we go to the fair in a couple of weeks, I will post a fair picture of Jane.

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Today I finished up one triangle: The embroidery on the final corner: (I should really photoshop that piece of linty fabric off the block! of course I didn’t notice it until I uploaded pics). And I sewed the final border on for this: yah!! Right now it is getting ready to be pin basted. The backing, batting, and top are altogether, I just wanted to take a break for a few minutes. Pretty productive afternoon. Plus this morning I finished up my Easy Street clue 7, so I’m just waiting for Monday for the next one. I’m glad we won’t have to wait until next Friday for that. The quilt top measures about 82″ square. I am using Kona white and some scraps for the backing, along with a color swatch guide that I made about halfway through this project: I’m not sure how I will quilt this one yet. I plan to quilt in the sashings and then go back through the blocks with various designs. I thought about adding a white border and quilt a feather pattern through that, but this top is finished and this will most likely be the last update for a while (at least until the quilt is finished). ________________________________________________ ETA 12/30/12: later that night… the math seemed off, and I was right. I was off by 1000. Because that error was too big for me to just let go, I made a new block. Since I marked my block with a thin pigma pen, I couldn’t simply remove the embroidery and fix my error…. so, I tested removing pigma pen marking on another piece of fabric and was not successful. Tonight I finished applique and embroidery on my new corner and I am very pleased. I have some tails that I need to clip from the perle cotton (a variegated Valdani) since it is showing through, but at this point I am now ready to QUILT THIS BABY!

Family Camping: old post 8/15/2013

***Note, this is from my first blog which got overtaken by a spam virus, and I ended up shutting it down.  While reading through Feedly (where I read my blogs), I discovered when clicking on my old blog (I never unsubscribed my old blog) I could pull up old posts.  I am thrilled because now I can place certain posts here and save them.  I will have this note on top of any post that is from my old blog****

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This year we had planned to spend a few days camping at Lake Easton. It’s one of those places that you just drive past while on I-90 heading east towards Ellensburg, Spokane, Pullman, Idaho…. It’s just off the freeway, but for me, I usually am waiting impatiently for the Indian John Hill rest stop to show up that I am just ignoring signs for Lake Easton. Anyway, we changed our minds and cancelled the camping reservation. I was thinking about heading to Vantage to see the horses but with the Colockum Tarps fire burning, the skies had been pretty thick with smoke. There were a few other places we were going to check out as well while staying there, and then we were thinking about heading north and taking the North Cascades loop back home. Good thing we changed our travel plans because due to the huge thunderstorm and rain that happened last week, mudslides have occurred at the northern part of the loop between mile post 147 and 157. That would have been a long drive back after finding out about the closure. Instead, we made reservations at Coho Campground at Wynoochee Lake in the Olympic National Forest. This is a lake that was created around 1972, and the dam was finished around 1994. I don’t really know the stages that took place in the creation of this place, but it was a good and well-maintained campground. No showers however, and port-a-potties due to the bathrooms being stopped up. The nice thing however was that we had two potties all to ourselves for the most part. We only had one other nearby neighbor. It wasn’t packed most likely due to the off-the-grid nature of the location (along with no stores, gas, etc…. you have to plan for this trip). We had a great time. I was concerned that we were going to get rained on as the weather forecast was calling for rain Sunday-Wednesday. Instead, we had SUNSHINE the entire time. Some low clouds in the morning, but those burnt off before 11 each day. Also, there is a state-wide burn ban in place. We tried to find information on that before we left but it was very confusing as to where campfires were banned. I was very happy to see campers with campfires going when we pulled in the campground. I’m so happy Kevin packed the firewood! The whole place was just beautiful. I’ve already posted a lot of pictures at facebook, so I’ll post a few that haven’t been uploaded there. If I was in full photographer mode, I would have taken my time to find correct settings, what I have to show are just point and shoot. Just above the lake: First night’s dinner: Elk backstrap foil packet dinner. It was so good and I am kicking myself for not taking a picture of the finished product!! I had planned to! At home I cut strips from the backstrap, marinaded in Kikkoman Garlic and Green Onionteriyaki, later stir fried, cooked brown rice, some frozen mixed veggies. We let the boys create their own dinners, added a little bit more Kikkoman and froze them to save for the first night dinner. I can’t wait to make this again… I just need to bug my brother for his source of venison! Gratuitous bacon and coffee shot: The second night we had a chicken caccitore. I wish I had used my slow roasted tomatoes for this recipe–it would have made it perfect. This was another easy meal, this time in a dutch oven. We browned the chicken at home and then froze them. More frozen veggies, bottle of beer, canned tomatoes, some seasonings, cook up some pasta, and about 45mins later you have dinner. We added cheese since we had extra due to my forgeting the hashbrowns for the mountain man breakfast Kev was going to make on the first morning. The chicken was very good. Sauce was so-so. We did a lot of walking, checking out geocaches, walking on trails and basically exploring. My feet are tired, and tonight I will sleep well in my own bed. Here is a peek-a-boo shot of the lake while on a trail: On the third day the boys went fishing. Nothing was caught except a few bullheads but in those two hours I was able to get about 1.5 flowers finished for my Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt. This was just before the boys went off fishing, leaving me some quiet time: Started in 2001 and drug to many camping trips, hospital visits, retreats, etc. I should be done by now… For 1″ hexagons, this bead box is perfect. It fits the hexi groups just right, and I have room to put my thread and scissors. I can also close it with a partially finished flower in it. Great for taking along anywhere. I think that is it for our Devin Family Camp Out 2013 Edition. Next up is back to school shopping! Oy…

Orca Bay: post from 9/17/2013

***Note, this is from my first blog which got overtaken by a spam virus, and I ended up shutting it down.  This morning while reading through Feedly (where I read my blogs), I discovered when clicking on my old blog (I never unsubscribed my old blog) I could pull up old posts.  I am thrilled because now I can place certain posts here and save them.  I will have this note on top of any post that is from my old blog****

I love it. I am really pleased with the greens and browns together, it came together just as I had hoped. I have 1.75 yds left of the eggshell and 2.25yds of black leftover however. That’s quite a bit–and that’s including having already cut binding strips too. I am actually contemplating making a second lap/twin-sized one with this scheme to include with the Blue and Gold Banquet for either the silent auction or tickets. Not sure. If I do that I will instruct Kevin to bid on it if it does not reach at least $200. We’ll see. I am going to think about it for another month and also look through my stash to see what sort of cub/boy scout fabrics I have left over that could be used in a different quilt. This top is 3rd in queue right now for a total finish. I better get moving on those other quilts!

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***update: this is a post from Aug 19, 2013, before the top was together.  I wanted to note the difference between the pattern layout and the layout I chose:

I am thinking I am going to change the name of the quilt, but nothing strikes me yet. Maybe something with coffee since the browns are all from a coffee fabric line. I am currently working on the wing units. I have a lot to go, but that’s really the only part left of this project to piece together. I don’t have my Ohio Stars together yet because I am playing with the layout (want to be sure which centers to stick with first). In trying to figure out which color combination I wanted to use, I came across someone who changed the star placement: light with the string triangle blocks framing instead of framing the dark stars. Visually I thought it had more of an impact than the other way. So which do you like better… Book Layout: Other Layout: One annoyance I have with the instructions is the amount of fabric (specifically the black and whites) the pattern called for. At this point I have all pieces cut and I have over 2 yards left of the black and about 2 of the eggshell. The pattern call for 6yds black, 5yds white. I knew when I bought it that it seemed like more than needed, but had I been buying a $10yd fabric I would not have been happy at all with the leftovers. As it is, I can use the eggshell down the road, and I need black for my hexagons anyway. I just don’t like buying THAT much extra. Little by little the quilt is coming together! edit: I just noticed I have a triangle strip placed wrong at the bottom. At least I don’t have any rows put together yet

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***update 8/11/2014: this is still in queue to be quilted and I doubt I would give this one up for an auction.  Also, there wasn't a silent auction at our last Blue and Gold so no quilt needed to be finished :)  Looking at this photo, I am itching to finish it now!

kaleido-Finish!

Now that I am able to finally spell kaleidoscope without having to lean on spell check, I am happy to report a finish!

Approx 72x56"


I had more plans with quilting in the other triangles--freemotion all the way through the rows, but I decided that it had enough quilting in it, and it would be great the way it is.  Because of all the turns going on with the straight line stitching (I am not ready to master holding a ruler with my Juki and freemotion the lines), each of the 9 rows took me approximately 90mins to finish.  I started this quilt in May, but the top sewed up in no time.  It was the quilting which took me the most amount of time.



A low-nap Minkee fabric was used.  I would have liked it a little thicker, but this is soft regardless.  it's hard to tell in the photo, but it is a green and black houndstooth.  The green did not pick up very well and looks very light here.


This quilt is headed down to Vegas for a special little boy this week!  I am also boxing up some goodies to go with it that would work well for snacks during a movie time :)  I think I am almost ready to sew up another kaleidoscope quilt, it was fun to do.

Row by Row Experience, Winner!

can we just photoshop out that double chin... yeesh!

Just in case we aren't facebook friends, I arrived at Keepsake Cottage Fabrics at 11am on the dot and won by being the first to bring my quilt in!  Bonus is that I used their row pattern so I also won a $25 gift certificate along with the 25 fat quarters.  I already have plans for that gift cert!  Last time to link here: http://www.rowbyrowexperience.com/



I love to work with solids! It was fate :) now I am wondering if this might work well in a scrappy trips quilt ala Bonnie Hunter?  I had some other fabrics set aside for that, but we'll see.

Now onward... I need to finish the binding on the kaleidoscope quilt and mail that down.  I am happy with how that one turned out.  I've decided I am done quilting on it (unless I change my mind again in the next day or two!).

Row By Row Experience, in the books

The Final Layout:


I went through my Washington State Internet Quilters block swap blocks and decided to add eight to the sides to give it more width.  I think it turned out nice.  Here are the rows and the people who made the swap blocks:

"Famous Last Words" (AKA, I am not doing this project, Mary!) By Melissa Devin
1. Attic Window, Wenatchee. Hummingbird  by Donna Kay Mowery
2. Leavenworth Quilt Company. Tulips by Lou Ann Hughes
3. Sew E-Z Too, Spokane. Tree by Joyce Callison
4. Quilted Strait, Port Gamble.  Goose by Dru Rowan
5. Keepsake Cottage, Bothell. Fruit by Joy Neal
6. Calico Threads, Tacoma. SeaGull and pilings by Julie Huffman
7. Creative Union Fabrics, Port Townsend. Ferry by Julie Scholes
8. Karen's Quilt Shop, Sequim. Herons by Naomi Vargas Peck

All quilted and bound.  It is currently in the wash, hope nothing disintegrates before I can take it to the shop tomorrow!


I just about totally changed the 7th row, Creative Union.  I changed the compass to make it paper pieceable, and I also paper pieced the sailboat, changed the rock a bit, and left the rope off the anchor.  Oh, and I didn't reverse anything, so the master row is going in the other direction.  Oh well.

I quilted the cable lines on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.  I thought about embroidering, but went with this instead.  It turned out well I think.

I think that's it on my report for the putting together of the rows.  Now I am just hoping I will be the first one done at the shop tomorrow!  We are taking Daniel to camp first, but I don't think they open until 11 or 12, so I may be ok :)

Row by Rows!

Yah! All eight rows are basically finished.  I need to finish appliqueing the crabs and seagulls, and a section of the row with the anchor, but next is to figure out the order and what I want to do to make it wider.


I changed the fourth row into mostly paper piecing, but I still have applique to do.  I am glad I decided to change the mariners compass as well, otherwise I would be still scratching my head on the y-seams.

Quilted Strait:  6th row, I meant to change around the order of the houses so that the fabrics weren't next to each other that were of the same pattern... it wasn't until I was appliqueing the trees that I noticed what I did.  Oh well.

The order again:
1st: Attic Window, Wenatchee
2nd: Leavenworth Quilt Company
3rd: Calico Threads, Tacoma
4th: Creative Union Fabrics
5th: Karen's Quilt Shop, Sequim

6th: Quilted Strait, Port Gamble
7th: Keepsake Cottage, Bothell
8th: Sew E-Z Too, Spokane

Even with some of the challenges, I am really happy with the rows I have picked to put into this quilt.  It will look great hanging up in the living room :)