Happy Thanksgiving!

 To all my Blog friends:

There is so much to be thankful for this year, I am especially thankful for all my friends here!

Happy Fall! ! !

I can't believe the last post I did was July 4! ! !  No excuses for not writing something, just didn't feel motivated to write a blog post.  

 Our temps are cooling and really cold weather is coming this week. We had some strong winds a few weeks ago that destroyed my flowers so I pulled them all out and put the pots and beds to sleep until Spring.  That gives me a lot less watering to do.  I did a small landscape project next to the house.  On the North side of the house is a walkway about three feet wide that is all gravel.  The edge of it that is next to the patio had nothing to keep the gravel from migrating out onto the patio so I put some edging stones along there, added a bit of new gravel, raked up all the pine needles and it looks great.  Took me all of about an hour, don't know why I kept putting it off for so long!

We have gone fishing but it was a week after the lake had opened up again and it was super crowded.  We did bring four fish home and it was a nice day, even with so many people there.  Last week we took a drive up Sandia Peak.  No photo but with all the smoke from wildfires in neighboring states, there was a layer of smoke over the city.  It was kinda neat to see it from above.

Here are some quilting projects that have been keeping me busy.  First are HST made from the corners left over from the quilt made a while back that used all those circles I stitched.  Each square had four corners trimmed off when the circles were cut out.  I didn't want to just throw all those corners away.  I trimmed each set and made about 96 pinwheel blocks.  They will finish at 3" I think.

They are all pressed nice and flat by "spinning the seams".

I still haven't decided how they will go together but there are enough pinwheels to make a nice sized little quilt.  Maybe a doll quilt or if I add alternate blocks, a baby quilt.  The blocks haven't told me what they want to be yet!

Another project was these little pocket prayer quilts.  They measure two inches square and were really fun to make.  These are simple four patches, fabrics cut at 1 1/2" .  They are layered with a 2 1/2" piece of muslin inside and a 2 1/2" backing fabric square.  I stitched around each quilt, leaving an opening to turn them right side out.  I ordered some tiny crosses on Etsy and placed a cross inside between the muslin and backing fabric.  Then topstitch all the way around and I used embroidery floss to tie the center of each little quilt.  

This little poem was pinned to each square.

My original plan was to use these as hostess gifts when it was my turn to host out Bunco games but that was suppose to be July and our governor didn't allow groups larger than six, so that didn't work out.  We did finally get to have Bunco for October so I took the prayer quilts and handed them out then.  Everyone loved them and it was so much fun being able to get together again.  

All the Christmas sewing if finally finished.  That kept me busy for a long time but I can't show the table runners I made until I get them gifted to the kids.  I will take one to my son in a couple weeks when we go to my DGD's birthday party.  I am so excited to see the Grands again.  I got the birthday girl a new baby doll, went to a local resale shop and bought two newborn size sleepers so she can change the dolly's clothes and Grandma can't give a baby doll without a little quilt, so here it is.

I found this panel in my stash.  It is trimmed to about 30" square, I machine stitched top to bottom and side to side through the center them hand stitched around some of the shapes printed on the panel.  Add a binding and it was a quick little quilt and pretty cute, too.  

This next project has been brewing for a while.  The pattern is from a Fon's and Porter Love of Quilting magazine from January 2019.  I had to wait until I found just the right background fabric for it.  I was able to use lots of leftover scraps in there, too.  I raided my bags of small leftover bits, anything I could cut a 1 1/2" square from went into the nine patches.  The pattern called for strip piecing but to clean out all the scraps and get lots of variety some of the nine patches were pieced from 1 1/2" squares.  There was lots of cutting and sewing but the variety was worth it.  At least I can say that now.  They were sewn over several weeks and it did get a bit tedious at times.  Some were strip pieced but lots were not.  Then, I tried to just grab and stitch but I am a bit of a control freak at times trying to mix all the colors and prints up really well.  Now that it is a top, I love it.        

I got the backing fabric last week and will start hand quilting it after I finish what is in the next photo.  I wanted to do a baptist fan design but maybe not.

It has been almost three years since my Mom passed away and my sister gave me some of Mom's UFO's to do something with.  This is one of those projects. 

 

This quilt is made up of twelve 16" blocks, each a different print with the white background.  I wasn't sure how to quilt it so it sat.  I got the fan stencil and decided it would work for Mom's UFO.  I have been working on it for a couple weeks in the evenings.  I do like the design but maybe doing two quilts in a row with the fan design will be too much.  I love the stitching but I hate the marking! ! !  Another issue I had was some of the fabrics in this top are cotton but I think the white fabric is a poly cotton mix.  I don't know how many years ago Mom made the top but it has lots of issues.  I started trying to fix some things but it would take forever.  I finally decided to just leave things the way they are and quilt it as is.  That's the way Mom made it and it will stay.  The top looks good on the right side, the wrong side is something else.  There are a few crooked seams that I think will quilt out.   Once this is finished I will pass it along to my oldest daughter.  Maybe I can have it finished before Christmas.  

These two quilt tops leave me with a lot of hand stitching and it is going to take a while.  I want to start another project but I better make progress with these first.  

Tomorrow is a big day here.  Our dishwasher broke about the middle of August.  The new one was ordered and suppose to be in by the end of September but no.  They just called today, said it is in and will be delivered tomorrow!   It has been a long time.  It was just another thing to go wrong in 2020.  Washing dishes by hand really dries my hands so much.  I have been using rubber gloves and using lots of lotion buy my fingers get so dry handling fabric and my skin cracks and hurts.  I am so excited to know it will get here tomorrow.

Well that's about all, I will try to do better with writing and answering comments.  I do read everyone's blog each day, sometimes it is just hard to write a comment.  I will do better, I promise!

2020 has gotten to be so hard.  With the election commercials, the medicare commercials, the scouting abuse lawyers commercials, our governors inconsistent rules concerning the virus, the dishwasher breaking and who knows what else, 2021 will hopefully be better!

Take care everyone, stay safe and healthy and enjoy your quilting, you all sure have some pretty things you have been working on!

Happy Fourth of July!

I wish everyone a safe, happy and healthy 4th of July!

Today I can show the little pincushions I made for the online Small Quilt group I belong to.  It is a Pincushion Parade.

These were made of scraps and leftover parts and pieces from other projects.  It is fun to use all those leftover bits of fabric to make something cute and useful.

Enjoy your holiday!

June sewing

June has been a busy month.  I have some secret sewing going on that I will not be able to show until Christmas gifts have been delivered.  Those are table runners I am making for the kids gifts.  One is all done, the second has the buttonhole stitching all done on the applique and it is ready to be sewn together.  There are two more for the kids and one for me if I am not sick of the pattern by the time I make mine last!

The other project I have finished is a small quilt.  Last December the Small Quilt Talk group I belong to online had a Secret Santa swap.  My swap partner sent me a charm pack of Bunny Hill Designs "My Redwork Garden".

The pattern is called Sweetheart by Lindsey Weight of Primrose Cottage Quilts.  It was a free pattern sent out in their newsletter.   It finishes at 22" X 22".  It did not use all of the prints in the charm pack so I picked out my favorites.  These are darling prints.

That is all I can show for right now.  The small quilt group is doing a Fourth of July Pincushion Parade on the 4th and I have made four little pincushion/bowl fillers for that.  We post photos on the 4th so I will show those on the blog after that.

Not much else is going on.  The state has opened up a bit and we have been able to meet a few friends for lunch in restaurants over the last couple weeks.  It has been so nice to sit down with another couple and visit and eat together.

We did go camping for a couple days again.  This is out in the wilderness, so no one else was around much.

If you look close in the center of the above photo there is a horn toad that crossed our path while we were hiking.  It is about three inches long and blends in very well with the sand.  DH said he had not seen one in the area in about 30 years so it was a treat.

That's about it for now.  Love seeing all your projects, enjoy your quilting time!

Tabletop Turnabouts

I have finished all ten of the little double sided quilts.  These were so much fun to make.  Picking out the fabrics from my scraps was so enjoyable, lots of my favorite little pieces went into these little gems.   There are lots of photos, sit back and enjoy.

Here is the book:

I was very blessed to win a copy of the book from Jan Patek on her blog over the summer.  I made up my mind that I would get them all made, especially now that I'm staying home during this virus.   

I said I would show all of them together again in one post so I have a reference for the future.

Here they are in all their glory!  You can click on each photo to get a closer view.  Jan designed the patterns for needle turn applique but I prefer to do fusible applique.  I enjoyed each and every one.

Garden House

To Market

Bunny Hop

Down By The Sea

Birds & Bees

Sweet Lady Liberty

Acorn Lane

Punkins

Holly Tree Lane

Moonlight Serenade

They are all so cute, it is hard to pick a favorite.  I definitely love the patriotic ones, especially the bee skep.  I love quilts with house designs and snowmen, Christmas trees, pumpkins, acorns and baskets.  Like I said, hard to pick one favorite.  These will brighten up my house during the whole year.

Well I missed a post in April but we are still close . . .

Still staying home except to buy groceries and we have ordered take out a few times from a couple of our favorite Mom and Pop restaurants that we trust.  My hair cut appointment has been rescheduled three or four times, hair is looking pretty shaggy.  My mammogram appointment had to be rescheduled because our governor decided that mammograms' were not essential and could wait.  That upset a lot of people as you can imagine.    I look forward to the mammogram now since having breast cancer.  Since mine was found with a routine mammogram I'm one of the people ticked off about that.  The early discovery could make a world of difference to someone's life.  And, I am tired of being home, I want to visit with friends over a nice lunch again.   Ugh! ! !   I can be patient a bit longer I guess!   No more about that.

I have been busy sewing.  Lots of small projects in progress and some finishes.

The mug rugs for my Bunco Christmas party are all done.  I am showing all twelve here just to document them.   They are the same design, just different fabrics for the snowmen.  You can skip past the photos if you want.  You can also click on any of the photos to enlarge them for a closer look.

These little guys were so much fun to make and I think my friends will enjoy receiving them.   The hard part now is waiting until December to gift them.

Tabletop Turnabouts continue to be worked on.

I like the whales and sailboats on this one.  It will be cute for display for part of the summer.

I love the flag design on the bee skep.  It is hard to choose a favorite, they are all so fun, but I think this one could be my favorite one.  

I started quilting this one last night.  The acorns are fun.

This one is quilted and waiting for a label and binding.  I have the binding all prepped and ready for these two once I'm ready for that.

This is the last one that needs the embroidery and blanket stitching around the designs.

This one for fall is blanket stitched and waiting to be stitched together, then quilted.  

When I have them all finished I think I will do a post with all of them featured in one place to document the project.  I am enjoying working on all of these applique designs.  It is fun picking out all the little bits of fabric to use and I love hand stitching.  It is hard on my fingers though, they dry out and crack.  I have to keep them moisturized and pace myself.

I do have a plan for the next project when these are finished.  Back in December I received a charm pack as part of a Christmas Secret Santa exchange.  I found a pattern designed specifically for the charm pack and it looks like fun.  I always have to have a plan for what is next, I need to play with fabric!

That's how I am spending most of my time along with a little spring cleaning.  I'm finding I'm not as young as I use to be so I clean a little and rest a couple days before tackling another big job.  DH and I have been out walking more to exercise his hip, that has been fun but the weather here is heating up.   We want to go camping sometime in the next few weeks just to get out.  Where we plan on going should be wide open with no other people there.  Just out in the wilderness, getting away from home for a couple days should be fun!     

I am enjoying seeing what you are all working on, so many beautiful projects and it is nice to keep in touch with quilty friends.  Enjoy!