Binding My Finish!!

I can’t believe what a week we have here in North Carolina… it was warm… now it is cold again!!!  So I stayed busy and decided it was time to empty the frame and yesterday I got to this!!

 I started the week looking at this…12 columns to stitch and the center would be done!!  Linking my progress on this project to Slow Sunday Stitching over at Kathy’s Quilts in Canada where she is stitching away in the cold weather they are getting HERE!

Soon enough I was on to this and chipping away at the finish!!!

At finally it was time to trim the quilt, decide on the binding, figure it and cut it and make it one long piece… then to sit down at Cleo and give her a chance to sing as she sewed down the binding 🙂

 My favorite accouterments for binding…

 And getting it started with a tan 50 wt Aurifil thread 🙂

Soon I had made my way around the first corner and down a bit and got a picture… I am sure not all my corners will miter so nicely but this one turned out nice I think… as did my label 😀

Linking all this to the Peacock Party Wendy is having HERE!

Also this week was continue to remove and replace the bottom outer border on this quilt flimsy… it is next to go in the frame….

Here is a close up of what a properly pinned border left me with… you see I placed this length of fabric border on here in a rush and measured down the center but somehow miss-measured the borders when I cut them… AND they are also set in place with miters too! lol  I can’t make this redo job easy on myself now can I!

Anyway this was taken off the bottom.. so I decided I best check the top better too so I pressed it and sure enough it waved back at me … so I took it off in the photo above you see a bit less left but still quite a chunk of fabric was removed as I removed and replaced these borders.

I will share my plan for hand quilting this wall hanging next week 🙂

My honey has been busy working on tiling this tile we have in our kitchen in 4 separate areas…

That fruit tile is Italian maybe in the bottom left???  Well didn’t suit our river mountain home anyway so in his stash my honey found and figured how to utilize some tile left over from our Florida home… that is  the bottom right.  Then properly grouted is the top photo… the glass tiles really took on a deeper color once grouted 😀  

Does he get to count this as hand work for these to linky parties this week???

The background tile was roughed up as it is very shiny and white… next week I will share a photo of our kitchen with all 4 areas fixed to forever hide this fruit that just didn’t go with wood cabinets and all… I am excited to see it all grouted myself !!!

We got a little Singer Sew handy #20 Sewing Machine in Case this week… it sold within 5 minutes on Facebook too ❤  So nice to see this go to a home where it will be enjoyed.. and it works too !!

Today our sweet pup Molly is 8 months old!!!  Hard to believe !!! 

We teamed up and gave her a haircut and bath this week (the middle shot on the right above was before her haircut and bath).  She needed both!!!  She sure enjoys me taking quilts off the frame… she jumps right on them so it was good she was all clean!!! lol  She likes playing with sticks and wood outside, playing fetch though is still a favorite!  And she will do anything for a treat!

Last week I said I was going to keep the same closing until we got fresh flowers… well I found this quote this week (thanks to Bonnie Hunter) and investigated and found this… we live in the mountains with water beside and behind us so what could be better!!!  I quote by Jack Kerouac for you from me will be my closing until we get some fresh flowers and some new inspiration this year!!!

 

So take time to evaluate how much you are in love with every bit of your life I pray!  Life is short and we need to make changes as needed to be all we can be…

Advertisement

One finished & another ALMOST finished too!

Hello my bloggy friends… Hope that October is treating you well!

Now that you have seen THIS SEASONAL side of me… How about this side too 😀

Can’t help but be a bit silly!!!  I am finishing up now my SECOND finish since my last post y’all!!!

It didn’t take long last Sunday until I finished all that hand stitching of the binding and got to this point!!!!

 I wash my freshly finished quilts on cool or cold with some regular soap liquid.  I bought the washer I have now just because it has this HUGE tub to soak my quilts in too… so I add a 30 minute soak now to new quilts in that cool water!!!  I will follow that with a drying session but find NEW big quilts need a second wash on warm if they will tolerate it based on colors used and a nice hard dry the second time to get the crinkly effect we love !!!  I use 80% cotton and 20% wool batting by Hobb’s Tuscany from Connecting Threads in all my bed quilts… We love it ❤

While it was washing I picked up the pillow top I am hand quilting to add to the bed. 

 My honey likes a snuggly little 16″ cotton fluffy pillow to sleep with but has very oily skin.  So he goes through pillows about one every couple years… this is the same pattern we have on the bed presently on his snuggle pillow but the other one is batik greys which clash with this civil war / reproduction style quilt colors we are going to now.

Once my honey was up and Molly, our shih poo puppy who will soon celebrate 4 months old, was being watched by him… I decided it was time to go back in the sewing room for a bit… while the washing and drying was going on for the second round and work on Roberta’s commissioned quilt project!!!

 Above I am outlining the completely machine quilted center… have I said how much I do not like machine quilting myself ??  I won’t accept any more big machine quilting projects…I don’t mind doing things for my Etsy shop… they are FUN!!!  But this.. was PURE struggle to quilt via machine… I am made for hand quilting personally. lol!  At least I now KNOW this about myself ❤

Soon enough I had to take a break… or several as I fluffed the quilt in the dryer because it is soooo big… 105″ square it finished up here…

 Here is a photo of the center….

 And here is my show photo!!!!

 And finally y’all!  I can share these photos of it on our bed 😀

 The pillow shams look great in their own design with the quilt too we think!!!  And the backing is AWESOME and COZY too 😍

I am linking this FUN FINISH to Kathy’s Slow Stitching Sunday Linky Party HERE my friends… come see what others are sharing too in the slow stitching arena!!!  Kathy is located in Canada… while the USA commemorates Columbus Day tomorrow… they will be celebrating Thanksgiving there ❤  Share what you are thankful for no matter where you live!

What I am thankful for is the project I am sharing now… I am in the home stretch and may finish it today… or tomorrow!!!  It should be presented to the owner later this coming week I am hoping too!

This commissioned project I took on as a good deed for a sweet couple.  He is a Vietnam Veteran and she was in dire need for someone to quilt this flimsy into a quilt to snuggle or hang on the wall in her home… she can’t decide which it will be! lol 

So here it is with the edges basted and trimmed as I took this photo to decide how to quilt those outside borders …

 Soon I had an idea and got to work making straight lines coming out from the inner border using beige thread on top to match this outer border… I had used a very light grey on the center to match that… it was really almost a silvery white in the Aurifil 50 wt realm 🙂

During a quilting break I did this…

Then when I got home I finished the machine quilting of that border and while my muscles enjoyed the break out of the house… it was time to sew on the binding!!!  YIPPEE!!!

 Y’all… I have never been THIS CLOSE on a binding….

 That is only 1/4″… I had more of the fabric available to use … but when I made the binding up I thought I had left PLENTY of binding to have 6″ or more!  Was I WRONG!!!

So as I write this…

And here is the official label I will add backing fabric to and sew onto the back bottom of the quilt itself…

 Here it is rinsed and ready to press and sew then wash and dry whenever the quilt is finished and washed….

So today I will finish the long left side of this quilt binding… then focus on getting the label on and measure for and make the hanging sleeve for it using THIS YouTube tutorial from Bonnie Browning of AQS.  Then I can wash it ONCE  on warm with a towel in with it to make sure it gets good and clean (smaller quilts I always add a towel to the washing and drying to keep it from knotting up).  And dry it well.  Come back next week to see if I got this delivered… I will try to convince Roberta to let me take her photo with it ❤

Also I got my first ever “award” on one of my most often visited Facebook groups this morning…

 I got this from showing the photos under recent… but mainly my overabundance of love SHOWN TO ME on my photos of Hanover Stars completion during the week.

I did see this in this same facebook group as the focus on this weeks show and share was hand quilted quilts you had flying geese in… I would LOVE to make a bear paw with fun borders on it like this one is done!!!

 This is a cute pumpkin and that bird I have liked in florals … looks awesome in solid reading fabrics too ❤

 Here is my quilting label idea for Hanover Stars…

Maybe I will get that done this week using the same fabric I printed Roberta’s quilt label with now that my printer ink arrived yesterday (I was out of black!!).

We have several items up for sale right now in the vintage sewing world of goodies… do you sew vintage??? Feel free to PM me on Facebook or email me HERE if you need any advice or items for your particular vintage machine (1930’s to 1960’s) 🙂

We have bobbins of all kinds too in our stash of stuff…

Whilst I have been doing all this stitching by hand.. I have gotten back to Bluprint by Craftsy… Hoping to make this in the not too distant future and thoroughly enjoyed this class 😀

 Here is a nice example too made by a class member!

Here is a cute Christmas ornament idea if you are trying to get into the holiday season already too…

Overall I think this is what we really need… not more time watching tv or listening to music or even pondering things like politics… but time being positive & kind!

Did my opening photo make you chuckle a bit???  I hope so !!!

What are you thankful for as Canada prepares for all things Thanksgiving tomorrow and here in North Carolina USA we are watching the leaves start to change and some are already falling…

Share what you are grateful for… what kind deed happened to you or that what positive domino effect you were part of!!!  For me I will say finishing this quilt is a blessing and the kindest deed I have ever sacrificed over!!! hahaha.. sounds funny but it has been a struggle for sure y’all ❤  Now it is your turn to leave me a comment. 

Spread the kindness contagion and…

Happy Dancin’ Progress!

Hello my bloggy friends… today I have progress to show you on most all my current projects 🙂

I am linking this Happy Dancin’ post to Sarah’s Whoop it’s Friday Post HERE!

I have been slowly making progress on my fast stitching project… piecing “Singing The Blues” quilt…  Here are the 4 patches I shared in my most recent post… 128 all done 🙂

And today I can share that all the half square triangles (hst’s) are done!!!  128 of those 🙂

 that was a lot of sliver trimming too… but took care of the dog ears and uneven areas all at once by sliver trimming… so I managed making good progress by completely prossessing groups of 8 charms or 16 hst’s 🙂  Went by in just a couple days that way!

Above is my current work… making Tri-recs triangle blocks.. I am presently cutting the wing triangles as they are just like an odd shaped flying geese block…  this ruler set is on loan from Connie presently also… so nice to use her rulers in this quilt!!!

For a more clearer understand here is a snippet of my pattern with all my scribbles and figuring on it! lol!!

You can see above in this snippet that I have drawn out each of the 2 blocks that make up this quilt.  I will need to make 32 of each and have collected my blues according to how many are needed.. I need to count my darks but still waiting on friend donations for some of those!! I want this quilt to be full of fabric memories for me and my honey and our inner circle of friends that have fabric stashes too!!! lol

Also notice in my scribbling above that I have broken down each block into it’s basic parts.. these will just go together like a 9 patch would actually 🙂  Once I get all the blocks ready for their places!!!

I am collecting charm squares but the blocks consist of 4 1/2″ blocks.. well the charms work perfect for pieced blocks .. but I will be trimming them all for the plain blocks that have no piecing to a nice 4 1/2 “… I am VERY VERY VERY VERY glad I bought a Omnigrid 4 1/2” square ruler now just prior to starting this quilt… I am using it a LOT!!! lol

As I go from working inside during the heat of the day on this piecing… I pass right by this!!!

Gosh how I wish I had time to start quilting on this beauty!!!  This Spiral Log Cabin is going to be a wall hanging in our living room when finished on a focus wall as you walk into the house… I have the binding cut for it and Brandi’s quilt also…

But it is waiting to be turned into binding… at least it is cut though 🙂 lol!!!!

The black fabric is a solid like that thin inner border and will really set off the quilt I think… AND the zig zag is much more modern and will really add that final bit of pizzazz to Starlight.. Starbright for my daughter who is 18 almost! 🙂 

Which brings me to the main focus in my days lately…

I am in the middle of block 6 here … out of 9 big 28″ blocks total!!!

I am very happy that with all going on here otherwise I am making steady, even if slower than I like, progress on this project.  My daughter will be gone most of the summer so I will be really working to finish it before her return.

So that is why I am walking past my beautiful new quilting frame with the awesome wall hanging on it waiting for stitches to bring it to life… I must current focus on the quilting for my daughter’s! 🙂

Also going on….

We got and rehabbed and sold a Singer Featherweight this past week… it is in transit to it’s new home as I write this.  Here is a shot of my honey shining up the case a bit…

he works miracles with these machines and cases when we get them!

Also last week we got to see the Delta Rocket go up… we are about 50 miles (give or take) north of Cape Canaveral where they launch most of the rockets these days…

We watch it live via satellite feed online and once all is cleared and it launches we go into the back yard and watch it ascend!!!  That is a cool perk of living where we do I think!!!

My wallet was breaking down and I love having my phone and wallet combined with a wristlet strap… so I found this much nicer and all leather wallet to hold my iPhone… 

 But I had to purchase the wristlet strap separately off an Etsy store… lucky it was a very similar color they called indigo but I would have called navy…

I was able to pick the hardware on it so it matches my wallet in antique gold hardware so I am very happy now!!!

Notice there is just a pocket on the right side of this shot… the phone I took this shot with slides into that slot… so it is now WAY easier to access just the phone for photo ops etc… than it was before!  So happy I got this and spent the time finding the leather wrist strap too!

Before I close… thought I would share some highlights from June 6… CJ, my grandson, came over on his birth day and we all hung out… I got a very cool candid shot of him!

 I love this shirt his mom Kayla had for him… and check them out below crafting together!!!

 She painted his age in wood letters … a little tradition she enjoyed when he turned one so she wanted to do again for his two year old birthday.  Here is how they turned out…

 the wood letters are on the top… and the outline from painting them got filled in by CJ Papa.. my son DL!  So it was a family focused project that ended with the letters painted like this!!!

I forgot to put something there for reference on size when I snagged this shot… but they are about 5″ tall and more than 1/4″ thick for sure!  And soooo cute!!!

And check out what my honey found for us to give this sweet young man for his second birthday!!!!

Mega Blocks to aid in dexterity and problem solving all in a wagon he can use for whatever… I love it!  And I bet he will too… can’t wait for his next visit!!!

My honey got a hankering for one of those desserts you see pop up on facebook that look so yummy and easy you wanna try it out… do you know what I mean????

Well my honey found one he wanted to make so off to the store we went for “supplies” to make a Mocha Frappucino Pie.  It only has 3/4 cup cold coffee in the whole pie… so not a big caffeine boost but YUMMMY!!!!  Here is a slice… I couldn’t resist taking a bit before my hand could get to the camera! lol

Well … I am Happy Dancin’ a lot in this post… hope you have a pleasant Friday and a relaxing weekend doing things you enjoy with those you love the most…

Until Sunday when I have a hand quilting tip to share…

Catch up and back to slow stitching! Yippee!

 This week has been a whirlwind of activity as we have been doing lots of eBaying

One of our items we are proud of currently for sale on eBay 🙂

and I have been doing lots of quilting and straightening of things.

My honey has been keeping up the house and working on his things… however, we are both delighted this week to see Sunday roll around… a day we keep to ourselves and relax and reflect on the week behind us and focus on the week ahead!  I love that about us 🙂

But I am most excited about the progress made on THE MAN quilt!

 On Friday I was looking at this last block on the left…
And yesterday I sewed on the binding there on the right…

Now I am hand stitching down the binding!  Yahoo!  Such a glorious job to do on a Sunday as well!

I don’t use a thimble but already have my electrical tape out to cut into unique shapes to fit my middle “binding” finger… last large quilt I bound it wore a hole in my fingernail… so I have been taking my calcium.. using cream occasionally made to condition my skin and nails… and have trimmed my nails last week in preparation for this binding… we shall see how my hands hold up…

Using my new “binding clips” aka Wonder Clips… love them 🙂

May be that I will buy a leather thimble to use just for binding… but we shall see.. I hope not really!

Also yesterday I got the border added to the Aida cloth label my bestie Connie made for this quilt… isn’t it lovely!  It is the only part my honey hasn’t seen and won’t see til the end! lol  His decision to have a surprise 🙂

And since I needed a place to “park” my needles while I machine sewed the binding yesterday and this morning… I found a bit of batting and put in the top of the bottle that holds my thread and threader!  AWESOME 🙂  Excited to do multiple needles now by prethreading several then just picking one out at a time.. more on that when I get back to quilting as I will be using more needles too 🙂

Now I want to share something VERY SPECIAL! 

 I will be chatting more about it this week but be following me here…. you won’t miss an update!  Next weekend we are sponsoring a linky with GIVEAWAY for all to enjoy and enter in.

& my friend
Wendy

The idea is you write a blog post with goals you have made… short or long term.. and that you met this month… then share what you plan to accomplish the following month… you have your blog post to keep you honest and each of us reading your goals met as well as your goals set!  Sound fun??

We call it M4.. but that is just short for Motivation Mayhem Monthly Muster blog 🙂

Finally… I have some very exciting news personally this week… as I was cleaning things out I found my old nursing license and had a sad feeling that I hadn’t kept up my license… just to have it.. not that I may use it again but I worked hard to get it and used it professionally … so it was important to maintain it… I thought it had lapsed…

Well according to the State of Tennessee it is still good and Active til my birthday!!!!

I will have to call them and register my new addy so I get an update to renew.. once renewed I will move my licensure to Florida.  But that is in the future…

Thanks for sharing in all my little victories this week!  Would love to hear about yours … please feel free to leave a comment!  I respond to every one that isn’t spam-a-licious! lol

Linking this slow stitch binding post to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching here! 

Have a blessed Sunday!

Finally Binding!

Binding a quilt is like a walk down memory lane.  You think of all that went into this quilt and pray for the recipient of the quilt…

I love the corners the most!  Do you bind your quilts like this or use another method?

This time I joined my “ends” using a Missouri Quilt vid I found here!  My thoughts on this are…

IT ROCKS!  You can’t tell where I ended it 🙂  No bulk and it turned out perfect just following the vid… and I do my corners like she does… see how nice they mitered 🙂

Well from a little machine sewing….

The binding to the front with white quilters weight Coats and Clark thread to back to my fave YLI light yellow thread to hand sew it to the yellow backing… I am having a blast…

Walking down memory lane….

I started quilting this quilt 2 months ago today 🙂

Pics of the washed and dried quilt will be coming soon… then off in the mail to the recipient it goes… the one who started it all 13 years ago putting this together.

Have a blessed weekend!

Kathi

Binding Stories…

Do you love binding or hate it… it seems to be one or the other for crafting and quilting… do you like the wind up of a project???

For quilters binding is sewing up all the quilt and readying it for the first wash and dry!  It is an exciting time and a time where expedience really counts.  So why am I writing here instead of binding???

 Well the good news is the binding is over half done…. so I will finish today and post that finish on links noted at the end of this post 🙂  but I needed a personal post… just for me and my followers 🙂  So here it is…

 See the dragonfly above that I quilted… there are 2 in this quilt…

 You see this quilt is destined for my bff of 25 years Pam…

She is lovely and talented but currently has decided not to talk to me anymore and she returned anything “borrowed” over the last few months that we are happy enough to say we only live about an hour from each other now… so this quilt will go in the closet to wait for it’s intended owner to wake up and smell the love that has been sewn into every inch of this quilt!

Love that!  Thanks for letting me vent my personal issues here… thanks for listening if you read this far and thanks for your prayers for me… but especially for Pam and whatever her torment is.

Have a blessed day!

Kathi