KaBam

Got involved in a fenderbender yesterday on the way to work. I'm fine, I had my seatbelt on... but the big delivery truck that rear ended me just mashed my poor van. I was actually hit twice, once by the truck, and then again by a car that rammed into the back of the truck. Here's a picture of what it looks like now:


And here's a picture of a van the same year as mine, showing what it looked like before:

I'm still able to drive it, but it drives/rides 'funny' and it feels like my seat is back too far from the steering wheel. (I've driven it for 7 years now, and know exactly where my hands fit on the wheel, and the wheel is too far away by about an inch.) I also noticed that the mirrors were showing too much sky, so I'm wondering if the underneath is bent up too. I tried to get a rent-a-car to drive, but this is a bad weekend to get one, they were all out of cars at the two locations nearest me.


The delivery truck was owned by a fairly large company, with locations in several states, so at least they've got insurance. I've already been in contact with them, but things move slow, esp. with the holiday next week, and I have to have a claim number before I can do anything about getting estimates or repairs.

Does anyone know anything about driving a vehicle with frame damage, if that's what it is? The linen delivery truck was pretty big, and he hit me pretty hard, almost straight on. Here's a pic from their website of one like the one that got me:



Out of the three vehicles that were involved, I was the only one that didn't get ticketed, and all of us were ok, so I guess I should be thankful for that.

Retreat Results

Well, here's the main thing I did on our retreat this weekend, sewd four half lone-star blocks to the 4 corners of this unfinished ostrich of mine, setting it on point. It's not quite as pinkish as it looks in this photo under the indoor lights at the lodge:



This was my first lone-star, and I realize I've still got a lot to learn about quiltmaking! All those set-in squares are SO not my thing... but I can do them now. And I need to work on my pinning and accuracy! Most of my seams match pretty well, but I've got to be more careful, I think.

I also got a quilt bound - one made with the delectable mountain pattern from Bonnie's site. I'll get a picture of that one later. *Yawns* We were up late the last two nights, talking and eating and sewing and laughing, so I think a Sunday afternoon nap is called for. :)

Quilts in Progress

Well, I'm back to work on my own stuff now, and here's some of what I've been doing. First, I'm going to a retreat the end of June where we're going to learn how to make a strip pieced lone star quilt block. We had to make a paper paste up using our fabrics, little ½ inch diamonds. I have a ruler that cuts that angle for me, so making the little bits was easy. Deciding on the final color layout was the hard part:


The paper was nice and flat when I first glued it up, but unfortunately, someone (who shall remain nameless) decided it'd make a good place for a kitty nap.

I actually plan to make two of these stars, and stick them on my UFO that started out as the Ostrich that Peachquilting was doing. I figure half on each side, and then maybe I'll come up with a big block for the four corners? Here's what I've planned so far in EQ6, many of you may recognize the middle part of the design. My favorite of the 4 corner blocks is the bottom left one, but it has 16 points meeting in the center, and that's a bit much. I'll have to keep looking. I have Block Base software that works with EQ too, but I've yet to install it on my new computer.


Or maybe I'll do some border stuff between the lone star halves and the next bit? I have an idea for a strip of triangly pieced bits I'll have to try in scraps before I use the matching fabric from this quilt.

I've also made most of a quilt top - but I can't show it because it's a sample for a mystery that I'll be teaching at a guild retreat. Won't be much of a mystery if people see it here, and there are a few people I know from guild who stop in at my blog. But I'm really happy with how it's turning out, and wish I could show it off!

Happy Quilting!

Last String Top

Well, ok, here it is, folks, my last string top - at least for a while! This one used all but ONE of the blocks my guild members made for two months of block-of-the-month:



Can you find the one block I used in there with a red center string? The only other block I had left was really dark, all thimbleberries colors, red, navy, forest green, plum... I needed something brighter there and decided the red string looked better there, even though my eye picks it out first... lol

I also finished another string top this weekend, but it was nothing to take a picture of, just a 4 blocks by 5 blocks combo, nothing exciting, no sashing. Both of these quilts will go to my board meeting Monday night, and I'll try to get someone to add one last outer border to them and quilt them. :)

I'm really itching to get restarted on some of my own projects now, seems like my life has been string blocks for toooo long. I'll probably return to them, or at least charity quilts of some pattern, but I've had enough of strings! Maybe it'll be time for some chinese coins?

Heartstrings Pinwheels

Here's another just finished heartstrings wheelchair sized top:


I'm about heartstring-ed out, but I still have a few more of the heartstring blocks my guild members made left, to put into a quilt. I did finally finish trimming the ones I have. I found out after I'd started sewing them into strips to make a top that some of them measured 10 inches square, and some measured 9½ inches, and some weren't square at all. And there I was thinking, boy, these things sure must be stretching, because my strip side seams weren't matching up at all. :D

So, quite a bit of ripping seams later, all of them are now 9½ inches square. Off I go to visit all of you!