Merry Christmas Everyone!

I hope you are all having a wonderful day with family and friends with good food and lots of fun! 

I can't believe how long it has been since I updated my blog!  I can say I have been busy, busy, busy.  In my last post I was asking for ideas for a quilt for my daughters wedding.  I found a great, free pattern and went with it. 

Here is a close up of the center block.

She had requested something with a fall theme, a woodland theme, or a cowboy theme.  When I found this I feel like I got the cabin in the woods and fall theme all in one.  It is a pattern called "Maple Cabin" by Linda Hahn and you can find it here.  The original pattern called for teal fabrics to be used in the log cabin blocks, but I went with oranges instead to be more fall colors.   I really like the way it turned out and the kids liked it, too.    The wedding was 12-13-14, no one will have trouble remembering the date!  We had a nice time at the wedding.  My daughter did a wonderful job with all the plans.  It was a casual, cowboy, western theme and everything was really cute.  Here's a photo of the kids.

I was working hard to get the quilt finished in time.  I finished the binding on a Tuesday night and we left on Thursday for Arizona.  The last few weeks before the wedding, I was quilting all day and night while DH fixed dinners and helped out wherever he could.  But it is finished and gifted to them.

Since I last posted, I worked on a few other things, too.  Here are a few more A Tisket A Tasket blocks that I finished;

I only have four more to go before I can put the quilt top together.  That will have to wait a bit though.  I have one of the red, white and blue quilts for my grandkids that I have started quilting.

The second one, I still have to sew the blocks together into rows.  Things are coming together and there is no deadline for these two.  I am back to enjoying the process instead of trying to meet a deadline to have quilts done.

Another project I worked on was a secret santa gift for an exchange in a group I belong to.  This needlecase was fun to work on and I really like how it came out. 

The important thing is my exchange partner really likes it, too!    This is a free pattern on The Painted Quilt blog.  Here is a link to the pattern.  Kaaren has lots of other free patterns on her site listed under First Friday Freebies, stop by and take a look in the far right column for the links.  She does beautiful work!

One last photo, especially for Love.  She showed her completed Underground Railroad quilt a while back.  I dug up a picture of the one I made in 2009 or so.  She made the 12" block quilt and mine is the 6" block.  I love how hers is done, she used some beautiful fabrics.  Mine looks different:

I like mine, too.  It has hung in my family room since I made it but we took it down to paint the room a few months ago.  I need to get it hung back on the wall.  Hopefully I can do that soon!

I guess that almost catches up on what I have been working on.  In the December issue of American Patchwork and Quilting, there is a picture of the quilt I made in 2012 for my son's wedding.  It is on page 20 under I Am A Quilter.  I am thrilled they picked it to include in the magazine.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day today and I wish you all a Happy, Healthy, Quilty New Year!

And the winner is . . .

Here is the prize for the winner of my giveaway:

Included are five lavender fat quarters, a pretty little note pad, a spider pincushion for Halloween and may you never need to use it, a nice seam ripper.  I have one of these and I love the big handle.

I asked DH to pick a number between 1 and 5, he chose number 3.  So, the winner is Love!  Congratulations and thank you all for reading along on my blog. 

Love, if you will send me an email with your address, I will get your package right out to you.

This has been a busy week, carpet is in and I have been trying to get everything that had to be moved off of shelves and book cases back into place.  I'm cleaning everything really well so it all looks pretty again.  While the carpet guys were here, I stayed in my sewing room and finished getting all of the red, white and blue star blocks together.  I need to give them a good press, then I can start assembling the two quilt tops.  I don't know how long it will take me to finish them, but any kind of progress is good!

I have also been looking for a quilt pattern for my youngest daughter's wedding quilt.  She wants something with fall colors and leaves, or something with a wilderness design with moose and bears.  I have a couple of patterns with leaves that I'm looking at.  I didn't find anything with the moose and bears theme that I liked.  If anyone has any suggestions for a pattern, please let me know. 

I have blocks #5 and #6 all prepped for the A Tisket A Tasket quilt.  Those will keep me busy for a few evenings while I watch some TV. 

Fall is in the air, enjoy the change in seasons!

The little one is here . . . plus a giveaway

I'm a little late in announcing it but my new granddaughter arrived about two weeks ago. 

She is a tiny little thing, only 6 lbs. 4 oz. and 19 inches long.  Her name is Caitlyn Paige and she is adorable! 

We have not been able to go see her yet, but soon.  My DDIL's mom stayed with them for a while to help out which was much appreciated.  We want to give them a little time to adjust to all the changes in their lives before we visit.  There are lots of other relatives wanting to visit, too.  We will go soon.

Here is the quilt I made for her:

It is from the book "P.S. I Love You Two!  A Sequel" by Nancy J. Smith and Lynda S. Milligan.  The quilt measures about 45" x 57".  It has 81 hearts of various sizes appliqued in the borders!  I really enjoyed making a little pink girly quilt again.  Just for the record, I did finish the quilt before she arrived by about 8 hours!  She arrived 7 days ahead of her due date.  Little Caitlyn, Mom and Dad are doing fine and are all thrilled she is here.

I say she is tiny because I had big babies, #1 was 8 lbs 12 oz, #2 was 10 lbs 1 oz and #3 was 9 lbs 2 oz.  I didn't get to see my kids until they were well past her weight!

We have been busy with lots of other things, too.  We have been planning a remodel project for the living room and family room, so got that under way.  The two rooms are freshly painted, carpet is scheduled to be installed on Monday, new end tables and coffee table arrive Monday, new lighting fixtures come in on Tuesday, a new sofa is ordered for the family room and the big sofa in the living room is being re-covered, and new curtains are here to put up once the carpet is done.  And, I have ordered two quilt racks to display more of my quilts.  I'll post more about them when they arrive.  It seems like a lot, but mostly just upkeep and small things.  We have been using odds and ends of furniture since we got married nine years ago and decided it was time to get some matching things!  I can't wait until it is all done to see how everything comes together. 

I have worked on a couple of other projects.  Here are blocks 3 & 4 of the A Tisket A Tasket BOM from several years ago:

Block 3

 

Block 4

 

I find it so relaxing to do some hand stitching in the evening and these are perfect for that.  I have the next two blocks drawn out on the fusible and fabrics chosen for the pieces. 

 

I have also sewn more of the star blocks for the two red, white and blue quilts for DGS and DGD in the military:

 

 

The pile on the left is ready to assemble into a top, the middle is the border fabric (it needs ironed yet) and the pile on the right has 20 more star blocks to put together and it will be ready to make into a top. 

I was the lucky winner of a giveaway on Carrie's blog A Passion for Applique .  I won these Little Woolies patterns by Kelly Mueller of the Wooden Bear.  I love Kelly's patterns, they are so simple and so cute.  I have not worked much with wool yet, so these will be fun to make:

So life is good and there is much to celebrate!  I have finally posted more than 100 blog posts, I have 50 followers and I have a sweet new grand daughter so I think it is time to have a giveaway to celebrate.  I have several things I have been gathering together and may find some more.  I will try to have a picture of the goodies by Saturday so you know what's included.   Just leave me a comment and next Saturday I will have DH draw a name to be the winner.  Thanks to all who read my blog, I know there aren't many, but I appreciate you all!

New Ironing Board Covers

It has been a while since you heard from me, but I have been so busy!  First I want to show off my new ironing board covers.  I did not take a picture of the old ones, but they were burned and full of holes!  Nasty looking and the tip of my iron kept getting caught in the holes.  It was time to make some new covers!

 

Jo over at Jo's Country Junction issued a challenge to replace the old covers, so I went to JoAnn's armed with coupons and found fabrics on sale.  Isn't that how it always goes!  I whipped out two new covers and am all set to iron in style!  Thanks Jo for the motivation I needed to get them done!

 

I will write another post about what I have been up to later but for now here are a few pictures of my garden.  The tomatoes are growing like crazy! 

 

 

 

These three plants are growing from seeds I saved from a really yummy heirloom tomato I bought at the produce market.  The one plant I bought at the nursery did not do very well and I pulled it up and tossed it.  These have lots of green tomatoes growing.

 

Here's a close up! 

 



And here are a few flowers:

 

Gerba Daisy

Marigolds

Vinca

Cactus and more vinca in the little garden.

 

I will write another post to fill you in on where the months of June, July and half of August disappeared to later.  I have been working on quilting the baby quilt for our new grand daughter due in about four weeks.  We will see if the quilt gets finished first or she arrives before it is done!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots to share . . .

Well, my intentions were to post something several weeks ago, but I started sewing and didn't get to the blog post!

I finished the churn dash quilt for my nephew and his bride early in May.  It turned out pretty cute!

The pattern I used is from a Fons and Porters Love of Quilting magazine, issue March/April 2012, on page 20.  It measures about 70 inches by 85 inches, so a nice size for them to cuddle under while watching TV.  There are 120  5 inch churn dash blocks and 99  5 inch alternate blocks.  I hand quilted  around each churn dash block and quilted a flower design in each of the alternate blocks.  It took about four and a half months to complete it.  I really love it and I hope they do, too. 

Here is the label I made for it:

 

And a sunny close up of the quilting:

For the rest of the month of May, I have been working on two Quilts of Valor for my grandson and grand daughter in the military.

The pattern for these is in the Fons and Porters Love of Quilting magazine, May/June 2014, page 54.  I separated the parts for the quilts into two baskets to keep everything straight.  I have all of the cream log cabin and all of the blue log cabin blocks done for each quilt and all of the star blocks for one quilt are done, just have to put the star blocks together for the second quilt.  All the parts are ready, just have to get them stitched into stars.  I am anxious to see how they all go together to make the quilts.  I hope to have these done before the end of the year, but a couple of other projects will take priority. 

I have the background parts of a baby quilt for my new grand daughter, who is due in September, cut out.  Still have to go through my stash to see what to use for the colors.

 

I would love to use some 30's prints for the color in the nine patches, but have little of that kind of fabric.  I will look for some pretty pinks, greens, yellows and pastels in my stash or break down and buy a bundle of 30's fabrics to use.  I love the little Sunbonnet Sue at the top and may put her name on the bottom edge of the quilt.  I don't know what that will be yet, but I think the kids will settle on a name soon.   It is adorable in the book, hope I love it when it is done!  There are lots of tiny, tiny pieces in there. 

 

Another project, I made pillowcases for my Mom and Dad:

 

 

This one is for my Dad.  I love the patriotic fabric, especially the little boy in the sailor suit.  My dad served in the Navy in WWII in the Pacific.  Hope he likes it.

 

 

Mom always loved her flower garden and she still has several pots of flowers on the window sill in her room at the nursing home.  I hope this brightens up her pillow.  On each of the pillowcases I used the decorative alphabet setting on my sewing machine to put their names on the back edge of the pillowcase.  They shouldn't get lost or mixed up in the laundry that way. 

 

And, as if this isn't enough to keep me busy, my youngest daughter just announced she and her fiancé have set December 13 for their wedding!  So another quilt to make.

 

At the beginning of this year I thought I might get to make something for myself!  I love sewing for all the kids and grand kids so I'm not complaining.  The longer my own projects sit on the shelf, the more time I have to add more project ideas to the queue!

 

Have fun stitching!

 

 

P.S.  I have been having problems with my email and my blog playing nice.  If you have sent me a comment on my blog and I have not replied, I'm so sorry, I have not received it.  Hope I can get the problem worked out soon. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doll Quilt Swap

First of all, Happy Easter!  I hope you are all having a wonderful day.

Next, the doll quilt swap.  I joined many other doll quilt lovers in a swap on Lori's blog, Humble Quilts.  We were to make a doll quilt for our swap partner out of civil war fabric.  Here is the quilt I received from Lynn in Chicago.

 
She blogs at klein meisje quilts and talks a little more about her quilt there.  She used the Temecula Quilt Co 12 Days of Christmas pattern and some really fun fabrics to make my quilt.  I am enjoying looking at all the fabrics, thank you Lynn! ! !  It is a sweet little quilt!

The quilt I made went to Merry in Mount Vernon, WA.  I used a pattern on Kathleen Tracy's web site, Country Lane Quilts, for a little nine patch doll quilt. 

It is made from fabrics I received in several swaps on the Small Quilt Talk group over the last couple of years.  I love scrappy little quilts!  It is hand quilted and since it is made of small pieces and has hearts in the border fabric and quilted into the corner blocks, I named it Pieces of My Heart.  Merry loves it, too.  She sent me a very sweet thank you with some wonderful candy, some pretty fabric and an adorable little box to store small things in.  I will have to take a picture of that soon, except for the candy, it is gone!

This was a very fun swap, Lori did a great job coordinating it and my swap partners were wonderful, too. 

In other quilting, I continue to work on the Churn Dash quilt and I am close to being done with quilting it.  Still a label and binding to be done though.

Enjoy your day! 

Fun Challenge

Are you planning to make a block for the Astronomical Challenge this year?  Here is some information about it:

http://www.quilts.com/pressreleases/y2013/FQF13QuiltChallengeFlyer.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgJNcWncs8Y

http://blog.shopmartingale.com/quilting-sewing/24340/

I knew as soon as I read about it that I wanted to make a block to be included in the quilt. 

Here is the block I sent:

I hope I get to see pictures of the finished quilt and can pick out my block.  Why not join in on the fun, you have until August 1, 2014 to get your block into the mail!


On the quilting front, I continue to work on the churn dash quilt.  I am making progress, almost half way done, but I am anxious to get it finished.  I like to have projects that have a due date done early. 

We have our new grandson and his mom visiting this week, so it will be a fun, busy week.  Also, we may find out if my son and DDIL are having a boy or girl this week.  Lots of fun, exciting stuff!

Enjoy your quilty time!

Lots of Progress

Here's what I have to show off for National Quilting Day.  This has been a busy week or so.  First, one of my favorite quilt shops had a big sale and I found these:

They had fat quarters on sale for $2.00 each, so I stocked up on some new civil war reproductions.  My favorites are the pinks and I think I can use the stripes as borders for a doll quilt or two.  I have always wanted to make a pink and brown quilt, so I think some of these will find their way in there, also.  No special projects in mind just yet, I have projects to finish before I start something new, but I will be ready when the time comes.  Who can pass up such a good sale?

Next, since I got my new sewing machine three years ago I have been trying to find a good chair to use.  The chair I have been using is a spare kitchen chair, but it just isn't high enough.  I finally found a nice chair at a great price.  I received a $25.00 coupon good on a purchase of $75.00 or more from Staples, so I started checking out their selection of chairs online.  I found one for $99.00 that looked good, then when I clicked to purchase it, a 20% off offer appeared if I purchased it right then.  So, what a deal, I got the 20% off plus got to use the $25.00 coupon and got the chair for almost half price.  That is great for a penny-pincher like me.  Here is my new chair:

I wanted a chair that had no arms, was on wheels, would rotate and adjust in height.  It does it all and is comfortable with good back support, so I am very happy!  Now I can comfortably look down onto the sewing surface and see what I am doing.

I have a couple little finishes to show off.  I had saved the free BOM A Tisket A Tasket from Bunny Hill in 2009, I think, but I had never started it.  I prepped the first two blocks to take to Florida with me, but I didn't have time to work on them there.  When we got home I needed an evening hand stitching project, so here are the first two blocks:

Block 1

Block 2

With other projects to finish soon, I haven't started any of the other blocks yet, but I hope with having these two done I will eventually finish this BOM .

My big project with a deadline is the churn dash wedding quilt and I am making progress, here is a sneak peek:

 I am hand quilting it with little flower shapes in the alternating squares, stitch in the ditch around the churn dash shapes and between the blocks.  There are 120  5 inch churn dashes and 99 alternating blocks, then I have to decide what to stitch into the triangles along the edges since it is set on point.  There will be no outside border, just the binding along the edges.   I am really happy with it!

Hope you are enjoying some quilty time this weekend!

A Big Finish, Trip, Pincushions and Progress

First, the big finish, my Medallion quilt is all done and hanging inside by my front door! ! ! 

I started this last year and worked on it on and off all year long between other projects that had deadlines for finishing.  The longest part of this project was hand quilting the outside border.  I did an echo stitch around all of the applique but the rows of stitching were pretty close together, so it took forever.  I intended to make the echoes about a quarter inch apart and I think I did about an eighth inch instead.  This was a sew along on the Humble Quilts blog by Lori starting in April last year.  I am so happy to have it finished!

We are back from our trip to visit our new grandbaby.  He is so precious, but they all are at this age.  Here he is on his quilt grandma made:

And here is one more:

I think he is a real cutie, but I'm a little biased.  His mom called the other day, he was 5 weeks old and he had rolled over from tummy to back.  We were thinking that it was just a fluke because that's a little early for that, but she called back again several days later and said he does it every time he is placed on his tummy, so he is doing great.  Quite the little character!

We drove 3,550 miles on the trip, that was a long drive!  But we had a great time visiting and playing with the little guy.  They are coming to stay here for a weekend in April, so it will be fun to see how much he changes by then. 

It took us a week or more to recoup from all the travel, guess we are getting old.  Whew!

When we got home, this was waiting for me:

 

A group I belong to had a pincushion swap.  This is the pincushion and two hand made dish cloths my partner sent to me.  I love the fabric she choose for the pincushion, it is just gorgeous.  Here is what I made for her:

 

 

I made two and couldn't decide which one to send, so I sent her both!  The one with the bird is made from Kansas Troubles fabrics and the bottom one is cross stitched.  It was a fun swap and we are both thrilled with our pinsuchions.

 

Now I am making progress on the wedding quilt for my nephew and his bride.  I'll post pictures later but I am finally finished with making the churn dash blocks and starting to get it sewn together.  The blocks sit on point, so I have to pay attention sewing the rows together.  It is looking nice and I'm starting to wish I was not going to give it away.  It is pretty cute. 

 

I will share more next time!  Happy Quilting!

 

 

 



Making progress

I have made progress on several things.  The baby quilt has a label, so I can say it is all done.

Here is the medallion quilt, the little part in the hoop is all that was left, I finished it on Saturday night.  It is waiting for the hanging sleeve to be stitched down, the label filled in with info and the binding to be stitched down.  I am so close to saying it is done, too.  Just a few more details to finish.

I have made progress on the churn dash wedding quilt, too. 

The stack of 5 1/2 inch churn dash blocks is growing and the basket full of parts is going down.  Once all 120 plus blocks are finished, I have to cut the alternate blocks and triangles.  I still have a long ways to go, but I don't need this finished until June.  I think I will make it!

We are waiting for the next round of weather to arrive.  The higher elevations are getting snow, I am so hoping maybe we will get a little rain or snow, but so far not. 

Hope everyone is staying warm if the cold weather is in your area.  Since the groundhog says six more weeks of winter, that leaves us lots of quilting time! Enjoy!