Slow Stitching Accomplishments & Pillow Shams DONE !

This past week started off innocently enough with just a few things on the calendar to accomplish so I hoped to get lots and lots of slow stitching time in.  I did get the quilt frame rolled…

 Later in the week I even got the border stitching done and started on the far left swoon block outlining…

And that was that… but today.. it is about slow stitching for me… I am linking up with Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitchers HERE with this progress…  Come see what everyone is slow stitching… there is yarn work and floss work and quilting going on too 😀

When I wasn’t running around like crazy this week with way more happening than expected I worked in short bursts on making baskets… first I got 2 done (one was complete or close already)…

 I found a video by Mari Mitchell that showed an easier way to assemble the basket blocks and I drafted my own pattern to have them finish at my specific sizing desired for the pillow shams…

Then I realized my original plan would never get done so I revised it to be more practical for my 20 something daughter and her boyfriend…

 This energized me to jump on making the other 2 baskets while I was in basket making mode already 😀

 Then the reduced amount and enlarged size of the flying geese center panels were cut and made…

Then it was time to call on Cleopatra for the quilting…

 Here is the second one all quilted and waiting to be finished…

Here they are all finished…

I love making a sturdy envelope back … I have learned making pillows and shams that a sturdy envelope opening can be decorative and fun as well as functional and long lasting!!!

And here the shams are with the quilt my daughter and her beau will be gifted very soon.. she turns 21 next week but this will wait just a bit longer I think… to ship properly 🙂

 She will be getting the pillows, the shams that were machine quilted for long lasting durability there, and the quilt that was hand quilted A LOT!!!!

I am sew excited to gift this set… she was to come this coming weekend… but God had other plans and she got a new home instead so the visit is being parlayed for now until fall we all hope!!!

I am linking the pillow sham fun finishes first to Wendy’s Peacock Party because these colorful shams are definitely something to squawk about HERE!!!

End of the month this will be a finish I link up with Julie ~ The Crafty Quilter for her end of the month linky post HERE 😀

We have phone cases for iPhones up for sale local and on eBay…  The upper ones fit the smaller iPhone 6 and 7

The gold one fits a iPhone 6 PLUS, 7 PLUS and 8 PLUS

They are all in great condition and ready to work for you if you are interested let me know.. I can give you a bloggy friend discount and shipping in the USA is no problem.

 We have several vintage things for sale but most popular are these vintage Class 66 bobbins… they are the ones with domed top and bottom and these are metal!

This week was sooo busy even Molly needed a bit of a break at one point…

And Saturday was my honey’s Birthday!!!!  He left double 5’s  😀 lol!

He was 6 years old when … on his birthday… man landed on the moon!!!  So we have watched a lot of that kind of historical stuff the last few days… how neat is that!!!

I made a new friend this week too… She is learning to hand quilt and will start on this little wall hanging she found at a thrift store and we layered up and found a stencil she liked for the center…

 Will update you on her progress next week 😀  Her name is Jannessa… isn’t that pretty ❤  And below is a doll named Fiona that she made from scratch using parts and a pattern she found at Alice Bear's site from the UK HERE!  Isn’t she AMAZING … Jannessa has skills… takes more than a pattern and parts to make it for me!!!!  She says there are videos that help too though ❤

Here is a fun pic my bestie took.. showing off how long her hair is these days…

And here I am showing off my new phone case…

I am really enjoying this short haircut and even plan to get it trimmed up next month because short hair needs trimmed more often than long does! lol

For closing I finally finally found a closing quote I like … hope you enjoy it!  The photo itself is the town just south of us looking up into the mountains we live in…

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Hand Quilting in the Dark …

Okay… so I didn’t hand quilt all week in the dark but my post is late today because power was out until just a bit ago… some trees in storms moving through our area fell on some power lines and we were out of power all together for 5 hours today!!!

But look at this great photo I got during the power outage… I hand quilted like crazy between naps! lol

Today I am linking my slow stitching progress to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching linky party HERE <
Kathy is working on binding on a project… fun to have a happy ending on something  you have been working on for sure!!!

Last week in my post I was just finishing the first row of big swoon blocks.  So this week I focused on the sashing that was all fun quilting no fill…

 After getting that border filled…  I got to work on the fun filling…

 And medallions were born…

 this photo is my new obsession photo…

 And here is the end of that sashing row…

 Next … as I roll the quilt to expose that I forgot to do some stitching in the pinwheel section… so for now this is all I get to roll the quilt…

 And a look at the whole quilt on the frame from the side I will start quilting from ….

 Here is my latest fave selfie taken in my sewing room…

I just got my Julius back.. you can see him in the background ^^^

Below is my Julius… a Singer 301 from 1952.  He was a bit tight for unknown reasons…

 So as a birthday gift from my honey he totally tore into him and using WD-40 inside only and re oiling and greasing all the parts after initially oiling and greasing with no resolve in the tight issues… He is sewing like a CHAMP!!!!

Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville showed some sugar cookies someone make for her retreat in KY this past week… what a LOT of work these work.. work of Heart for sure!!!!

 I machine stitching this basket block… it needs a partner to become a pillow sham… 1 of 2 needed for my darling daughter who will be coming for a visit soon I hope!!! 😀

 This is the washed version of the heart mosaic art quilt I made my best friend for her birthday… she took it home and washed and dried it with only more texture showing in the process and no issues with loose or missing squares 😀 YAY!!!!

 So… I made another one for another friend and made a Tutorial I posted on my blog Friday HERE <

 Here is the back of hers with hangers added as she requested… Connie’s was hung with a single straight pin into a cork board in her bedroom just as easily though 🙂

 I resubscribed (at least temporarily) to Netflix (cancelled my Hallmark NOW subscription as it was not as much fun and variety and Netflix)… This has been my fave show by far …

 Rick’s new – to – us case found on eBay came this week…

 It is very much him 🙂

Daisy Meadows Update…

This fern by our grist mill comes back every year y’all… no covering or work needed to preserve it!!!!

 Rick has done a LOT of work to the grist mill and it now runs 24/7 at the same speed and with no adjustments since he set it after removing a lot of the big pipe inside and adding a valve and some smaller piping… it is technical to me but it works and I love looking at it as I sew and quilt!!!!

Across the pond is this majestic ancient weeping willow tree… our native Eagle likes to watch our pond for a top floating fish to fetch for a meal at times…

 Here is a bush/tree in our yard.. the blooms look white but at the very center they are a dark magenta red color… very unique I think…

 We have some class 66 bobbins for sale on facebook… These are domed on top and bottom and vintage 🙂  Everything else we have put on facebook has sold already or I would share more!!!

 And I just wanted to share this after missing a posting time a couple weeks ago… I got several concerned emails…  Thank You !!!!

 Please take time to think positive and … 

Currently I am thinking positive of electricity and how much we take it for granted for sure!!! lol  Have a blessed week y’all!  Kathi

Crazy Busy Week Y’all ~ Come Read All About It!

June is being crazy busy for us !!!

Sunday evening I finished up the hand quilting on Elliana’s quilt!!!  YAY 🙂  I was promptly exhausted and Molly was promptly excited to see I was cutting it off the frame 🙂  She is soooo cute I had to snap a photo of her on the quilt as I cut it loose! lol

Monday I sewed on the binding , made the label and sewed it on … and Tuesday I got a new do for summer time 😀

Y’all it is SHORT back there… but I totally love that she left the front long enough to do something with still 😀  I am not due to have it trimmed again until September but I am already contemplating late July to keep it up a bit better! lol

And look how beautiful the daisies are looking this week with the rain on them … we started getting rain mid week !!!  YAY  (Our pond is back to getting water to it again.. our river was very low from lack of rain here in the mountains!)

 I took a better photo of the table runner showing the machine quilting on it… I really like this piece in our kitchen decor now too 😀

 Look at this heart shaped flag piece we found when thrift shopping Monday… found a home real quick in our decor!

 And we got a 5′ x 7′ rug that Molly has promptly decided is her play area 😀

 I wish you could see her… she brings all her toys and treats here now to enjoy them and rolls around on the carpet to rub her back and play for her toys… she loves it!  Sew funny to watch!!

She turns 1 year old Monday the 10th !! YIPPEE 🙂

And look at this quote I found this week…

Then look how proud my darling daughter looks with her GED certificate in hand here…

Here is her official diploma she shared with me …

I am so proud and excited for her!!!!

She also starts a job now next week at the school where she took her GED classes… she passed above the expectations of the course too… and had fun teaching some of her classmates math … her favorite subject 😀

 I won Julie Cefalu’s giveaway for May y’all!  I am MEGA EXCITED about this ❤

 The Crafty Quilter… aka Julie…(HERE is the blog post she posted after contacting me<<<) contacted me early in the week and by yesterday I was looking at all these goodies 😀  I am stoked !!!  I never win anything I enter but my hard work and perseverance paid off here… look at my winning lot!

 Julie has her own stationary and she wrote me a very personalized not for winning… she did substitute for the Moda  2019 hand towel this cool label fabric and a spool of 50 wt Aurifil (my fave thread ya know) … I love this substitution… the other fabrics are 1/2 yard but mostly I am excited for the Ruby red Olfa 45 mm rotary cutter!!!!

 I am a July born baby and ruby is my birthstone and me and my honey’s fave color together too ❤

So to celebrate winning we finally bit the bullet and ordered a “bistro set” … a couple of cozy oversized chairs that swivel and a table that is glass top but not see through and larger than we expected…

 Here you can see our front yard a bit better and how it sits near our flag pole on a concrete slab that was there when we bought the house… we used it for a burn pit for paper trash… now that is moved to near the river for burning purposes where it is more safe anyway and we have claimed this space to enjoy sitting (when it stops raining )…

No complaints about the rain but I will be glad to enjoy this newly claimed spot!

I am not showing any more of the quilt but little snippets until next weeks post when they have received the quilt… but look at the cute label I made here…

 And here is the 3rd corner as I rounded each one during the week and busy stuff was happening…

 Finally Friday nite I placed the last pins and stitched all the binding down using my favorite new stitch the ladder stitch I shared a while back in a picture tutorial here…

Linking my slow stitching finish that mailed out yesterday to it’s new home to: 

Kathy’s Slow Stitching Sunday HERE <<< where she is sharing some hand embroidery and other linkers are busy sharing hand stitching of all kinds too!!!

& to

Wendy’s Peacock Party HERE <<< where she is sharing all sorts of goodness and close ups of a Lucy Boston quilt I LOVE!!!

 This week I ordered fabrics and made a proper pattern for the basket themed pillow shams to coordinate with my daughter’s graduation quilt she will be coming to get sometime end of July around her birthday she says 😀

To the left is the pattern I fleshed out when I wasn’t able to sleep one night…

To the right is the fabric that I didn’t let myself near until the quilt for Elliana was done 😀  I love torturing myself but I loved more playing with the new fabrics!!!

Going through my stash I knew I had a bit of nice white fabric for the flying geese … and some more grey in the steel color I bought… but the colors are a tad off on the grey… so I may make the grey fabric I had be part of the back of the pillow shame and keep the new grey fabric to be the pieced front part of the pillow sham 🙂  

I am enjoying this project more now that I have started it too!!!  Playing with my latest gift from my honey, Julius, is amazing too !!!

 And before I knew it my other new rotary (Clover green 45 mm rotary) along with the 28 mm with a fresh blade (great for trimming to size all those hst’s)… had this top part of the basket laid out 🙂

 Molly got a new toy this week… she got filthy dirty in the dirt and rain by the river that runs through our yard… so she got a bath and brush out… she looked so good I had to grab a photo of her and her new ball toy too on the rug 😀

 And here is Ellie at 2 weeks old… they will call Elliana that I think 🙂 

Isn’t this the cutest photo of a baby!!!!  LOL I am sew in love with her… I think we will be going there first part of July for my birthday!!!

In closing, I want to share that my honey went to the hospital with low oxygen levels this week too… We loved the EMS crew that took him on oxygen to the hospital but our local small hospital pales in comparison to his regular VA experience 2 hours drive away when he had his hip replaced and where he sees his regular doctors…  His oxygen levels are still NOT stellar but not as low as they were either… please keep him in your thoughts and prayers this week that the doctors can figure out what is going on with him and provide him with medication/technology to help it get better… for now he has increased his oxygen level he receives when he sleeps.  We are hoping he doesn’t need oxygen during the day though!!!  Take care and remember…

Welcoming June 2019 Y’all!

These beautiful flowers were given to us as a parting gift from a visiting neighbor when she left to return to Florida 🙂

We have windows open for the first time since early in May and it is soooo invigorating to feel the fresh air moving through the house AND the birds singing their late spring songs 😀

Another neighbor is brave about snakes that live in this region and braved the garden to harvest our returning strawberries and then was kind enough to share a bit of his bounty… so I have been enjoying early morning strawberries with a bit of whipped cream on them too… no sugar needed they are naturally sweet!

You can see roses from the never ending giving bush of roses outside our bedroom window my honey harvested for me when he trimmed off the dead blooms to get fresh ones a place to sprout out… and I finished and washed and we are actively using the table runner as a table runner and a place mat built for 2!!!  We love it 😀

My favorite Bonnie-ism lately…

Remember this on the tough days friends 😀  Life is short… savor every moment and the best is yet to come >>> STAY EXCITED!!!

I made this collage this Friday 🙂

I have this completed now…

And have just this little bit to go before I am ready to add the label and the binding to this quilt …

YAAAAY!

Linking this most awesome progress to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching HERE <<<  Kathy celebrates 7 years of linky party happiness this month 😀  Congrats to her!

Also linking to Wendy’s Peacock Party HERE <<< She has a chocked full post and a great tutorial shown on the following day's post too… talking about on point layout and design!

I will not show Elliana’s quilt again until it has been gifted for several reasons so just enjoy these photos and be ready for a fun reveal in a couple weeks!

I mentioned labeling her quilt…  HERE are some fun label ideas too! 

I will be using THIS pen…

 And making a label like this…

the pen I am using writes heavier and stays better wash after wash and dry after dry than the pen used in the photo above… I am very pleased with it… you may can find it local but you can also find it via Amazon 🙂

I will border with a bit of ribbon for a bit of whimsy across that diagonal top edge to avoid showing stitches… although with the ladder stitch it doesn’t show but this will be more durable I think too!

Next up I will be making a bag for my daughter…

 And a PAIR of these pillow shams I am designing this week …

once the quilt is in the binding / labeling / completing for gifting process 😀

The pillow shams will coordinate with this quilt I hand quilted for my daughter’s high school graduation a few years ago… but she left high school to experience life.

So I finished Star Light ~ Star Bright quilt before we left Florida.  I washed it and have used it on the guest bed as a “carrot” for her … she would get it when she completed her high school education or got her GED.

Well folks!!!!  SHE GOT HER GED >>>>> FRIDAY!!!!! YAY !!!!

She doesn’t want it mailed… she is coming for a visit soon… so she will get it then… I am giddy for her to receive it and the pillow shams are for all her hard work and perseverance in the “growing up” department… she is really getting the hand of adulting now 😀 lol!

Inspiration for the pillow sham design came for the left antique quilt … and the right similar basket design as well since it has a video to show how to put it together on point… however none are the size I need them to be… so I will use graph paper and Math Skills and make my own design for her and her boyfriend (who loves my handmade things)… we also have pillows for the pillow shams so they will be set!!!

Molly likes to lay on her “house” which is a crate where she stays when we leave and at night when we all sleep… we cover it with that quilt I made many moons ago with learning piecing skills and stitching skills… and as of late she has learned this is a comfy spot to chill and watch me quilt!

 She loves it and doesn’t hurt it so all is good 😀  Isn’t she cute up there watching me quilt !

So for now I will let you go check out the links I left you in this post… but please take a moment to appreciate your life… it is worth your time !