A Happy Goodbye to August this Week!

It seems like every month we live through this Pandemic… I am happy to see a month enter and then happier to wish it goodbye… August is definitely not different…

So as you enjoy the last days of August and get ready to welcome in September, Labor Day and Autumn… what are you most looking forward to??  I hope you will leave your thoughts on this in a comment at the end of this post 👇

September will herald in the use of WordPress for future blogging… you can find me already starting to get my WordPress account set up at…

https://designoriginalsbykc.wordpress.com/blog

However I am NOT very tech savvy and it is taking a bit of time and thought as it can be way more custom that the blogger format is.

But the detriment of the Blogger system just is taking the fun out of blogging for me… and I wanna enjoy this thing I do each Sunday morning!  Just like this Bonnie-ism…

So today (Saturday) I am pre-writing my blog post to deal with posting in Blogger one last time for y’all and for me!

I have worked some Every Day on making myself happy quilting this wall hanging…

And I put on fresh Color Street nail strips yesterday too!

And I made the final frame move on the heart part of the wall hanging I have been steadily working on…

I have 7 triangles to finish quilting around on this heart.

Linking this progress to Kathy’s Quilts Slow Stitching Sunday group link up HERE <<< Go see what all the fun is about there… including hand stretching 😀

Now look at this cute quilt… have you seen this pattern in your travels???  I came across it in one of my quilty groups but haven’t found the pattern.  I thought in bolder colors my daughter and HER fiance might enjoy a wall hanging like this… when they find a home of their own 🙂

Then I saw these awesome curtains someone made… ooooh makes me want some quilted curtains now!!!  How about you??!!

And I have a great group of different colored plaids in all different sizes…

Would this group look better to you in this kind of queen sized quilt setting…

Or would you be more inclined to add solid centers and do something like this in a queen finish???

I am pondering the two with the plaids I was gifted by a dear friend of mine.. I wanna make it a quilt for our bed from these fabrics ..or do you know a pattern that would lend itself to this grouping of plaids???

Here are a couple funnies I saw this week that gave me a chuckle… First this one I can TOTALLY relate to…

And as a pediatric nurse … I can totally see a K or 1st grader coming out of school from a long day with a different mask than you sent them in with…

In November I am planning a Color Street Party on Facebook.  Here are the NEW additions for Autumn…

If we aren’t Facebook friends consider finding me HERE on Facebook and send me a friend request or simply a private message as I have a private page… to let me know you are interested in some fun colors on your nails too!  I would love for you to be able to meet my vivacious Color Street Stylist & join in the FUN! of a Virtual Party 💅and then when you are doing fun hand work you can enjoy pretty color bold or quiet color on your nails 💕

In closing… take time to think what an amazing chance YOU have every day to remake decisions you aren’t happy with…

This C. S. Lewis quote speaks volumes to me in the period of time we are in TODAY!  Can’t we change the ending we are currently in starting NOW??!!

Thanks for stopping in 🙂  I certainly appreciate you giving me a bit or your time… Happy Sunday!

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Wow! What a Busy Week to Share!

 Happy Sunday , August 23rd y’all!  Such a busy week here… how about y’all ?

This “Bonnie Hunter-ism” philosophy really spoke to me this week… and because of it I got LOTS accomplished too ❤

I will share quilting in just a bit… but first I wanted to try a different kind of mask design… a 3D mask using THIS VIDEO and designing a pattern for my honey…

I made this while he was still sleeping… it came together really quick though!           

So I pulled some quilt related fabric and made myself a mask I liked his big one so well and made mine smaller….

I used 3 twist ties for the nose bridge area.. and I just got in some soft round black cotton elastic this week so I was READY!  Once cut and sewed… I turned and sewed in the nose metal… 

Then following that youtube video I linked above… I played fabric origami and sewed everything in place for MY MASK!!!

See how 3D it sits when not in use!  I love how it stays away from touching my face too 🙂

This method of mask making is much more fun and it is FAST too ❤

***And if you prefer the official template you can order from that YouTube video I shared above***

Throughout the week I continued to focus each day on some quilting… I am looking forward to next month when I can hopefully get in for a eye doctor appointment… because I found out my insurance covers a large part of new glasses like these

for about $100 to include the lenses with beefed up UV and blue light protection for my eyes too!!!!  This is an online glasses shop where I use my current good fitting frame to find another frame using the numbers inside the legs on my current frame 🙂

Nails got a clean slate and some extra conditioning to my cuticles too with Mineral Fusion … then prepped with alcohol wipes for a nice dry surface to put the new nail polish strips on … 

Here are the nail strips and the packaging… with all that comes with them for around $15 from Color Street…

That $ spent … gave me this mani and enough for a future mani or pedi too!!!  What a great deal 🙂

I wasn’t due to change my nail color (Seattle Royale had only been on for a week) but it looked rough and I needed the pick me up… Jannessa had just done hers too with some investigation involved in her new set…

She played with the question of “What would she like Color Streets Clear As Day top coat strips or liquid top coat on the new nail strips… She is trying them out this week to see which way wears best 🙂

Then this weekend Connie put on a set of Oslo and Steady nail strips… 

Doesn’t she have awesome nails!!!! Wanna try a FREE SAMPLE mailed to your home of these nail strips???  I can make this happen if you leave me a message you are interested … we can message each other to get and give info for you to get a few to compare to traditional polish wearing 🙂   <<<

Now I need YOUR HELP!  

Anyone know about printing???  Pondering Save The Date cards similar to these found on Etsy for my daughter … not buying them yet but pondering if I should print them myself with my Photosmart HP Printer that does great photos or saving my ink and having them professionally done with a color laser printer…

If you use Blogger and are experiencing problems… PLEASE TAKE TIME TO 

SEND FEEDBACK <<<<<

From inside your own blogger account *if you use blogger that is* you will notice a ? with a circle around it .. when  you click on it you get the option to leave feedback… they can’t hear us belly ache over the issues new blogger formatting has if we don’t tell them!!!

For instance I am still having MAJOR issues with photo uploading.. so I am doing this in batches depending on time and topic this week… going a bit easier but slow for sure!!! So tell those that can help is my advice.

In July when my daughter came to visit we started making a wallet for her fiance’s cousin…  He loves anything to do with aliens so Brandi drew out the alien head and I appliqued it on the wallet front.

Here is a better view…

Well y’all he finally got the package yesterday and LOVED IT!!!!  Yippee

So yesterday I decided Brandi needed a holder for her sewing machine manual, bobbins, and attachments… I found this pattern HERE by Sew Can She… this link includes a Youtube video link too 🙂

This outside fabric Brandi had fallen in love with while she was here and it fit perfectly for this make!

And see how nice it holds all her stuff… it can go in that case that holds her Singer 401a vintage 1956 sewing machine too 😀

Digging around SewCanShe’s website I found this cool BOM for about $8/month for 12 months…

I will ponder it a while longer until I get paid next month at least.. but we will see 🙂  

What do you think???  THIS finishes at about 60″ square the pattern says 💟

Finally here is my stitching progress this week on the Wedding Wall Hanging ….

Moving down a bit now…

And a right handed shot too … moving even lower on the heart center…

I should be done with the heart next week… so hopefully my daily slow stitching will show more NEXT WEEKEND 🙂  My goal was to be done with the heart by the end of the LOOOONG month of August leaves… we shall see!

Sharing my “heart-y” progress with Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching HERE <<< Go check out what every slow stitcher is stitching… Kathy is trying something new with some knitting of dishcloths this week even 😀  

Here is my new Facebook profile picture…

And here is the meme that helped me kick it up a notch this week to get so many different things completed this week…

I will be making an appointment for a shape up trim… so this made me laugh!  Do you have Covid induced lack of hair trimming … or are you in shape???  I am curious !!!

I am so excited you decided to stop by my blog… Now leave me a note so I know you were here! 🙂

Blessings to you and yours and have a blessed Sunday too 💖

Hand Quilting Has Started Again and There is some Exciting NEWS!!!

The air is starting to feel a bit autumn-ish with a cool undercurrent noticed from time to time here in the mountains of North Carolina!

While you are staying at home if you know these 2 things and how they work together … what phone are you using to call all your friends???!!!

Me and My friends use mainly Verizon Wireless for our phone service 🙂

  But finding a facebook friend shared this Ad … I had to pass it along to you all!  I grew up using Bell South phones… who woulda thought we really would have video chatting in 2020 to get us all by!Me and my besties got new shirts.

Connie got one too but she has been working so much you just get to see me and Jannessa in ours!!!  We all love these new shirts I picked up for us from MSQC 🙂

While I am sharing Jannessa above… I wanted you to take notice of her new grandchild Grayson in her arms… he had a stricture in his small bowel that typically doesn’t show itself enough for fixing til babies are about 1 month… well he is and he is having that stricture removed and is currently recovering in the hospital being watched as he eats and digests the food!  Keep him in your thoughts.. his parents are worn out and so is his Nana Jannessa!

Being her first set of nail polish strips.. she didn’t like how 1 was put on … so the following week she sparkled it up a bit!

Jannessa did make time to put on a French Manicure from Color Street Y’all!

I love that sparkly nail mixed with the french manicure too ❤  And she shared some extra Color Street she had with her oldest grandgirl Addison! She is 10 and has such sweet hands ❤ All these hands were bathed in good quality products too!  This Mineral Fusion brand from Amazon! At the beginning of the week I really found this quote spoke to me and motivated me to focus on stitching… As I finished stitching “Kristen”s name… I remembered a video I had on different embroidery types on Bluprint … *now changing back to Craftsy* Jessica Marquez is a great teacher… See how she did back stitches along the top and bottom line she wants to make a satin stitch around.      So left is my progress finished with names and starting on the year they are to marry… and the left is even closer up 🙂  Very pleased with this … And once all the embroidery was complete I remembered I had this stuff…and a soft toothbrush to scrub off any showing pencil markings!  IT WORKS!!!!  Look for it HERE Now it was time to sew that last seam together I had left it apart for the embroidery 🙂 This is my 301 Julius… He is amazing at closing up this seam! I gave the quilt top (flimsy) a good press and then checked out How Far apart do I need to plan my quilting for this batting??? 8″ apart is GREAT!  I won’t hand quilt that far apart but good to know it is a sturdy batting! I am blessed to have several hand quilting friends who are wiser than me…  1st advice… treat the stripes on this quilt top like it is one piece of fabric… 2nd advice… treat the faceted heart like a faceted diamond with V shapes all around showing it’s brilliance 🙂  I loved this idea!!!!  And here is a close up of how that looks>>> I have a eye shadow applicator & I fill a bottle lid up with water and dip that spongy end in it to remove marks when I am marking with my blue water soluble marking pen 🙂  Works GREAT!

Finally … I have the quilt top all layered up now… it measures about 40″ x 60″ wide.. remember this a wedding surprise for my son and his bride to be… so no showing the flimsy in full here but you will get snippets as I work on it ❤

And in this shot you can see my focus today.. I will probably still be working on the faceted heart part of this quilt… but you never know!  It was sure nice to get thimbles back on my fingers!!!!  

Linking this progress of getting back to slow stitching my favorite way to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching >>>> HERE 

and with the gals too at HQAL

Hand Quilt Along Links

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Tracy, Deb, Susan,  Nanette,  Edith, Sharon, Karrin, Gretchen, Kathi, Daisy, Connie, Monica and Sherrie

And the BIG EXCITING NEWS!!!!!!!!!!

My Darling Daughter Brandi… that just visited me … got ENGAGED!!!  Timmy totally surprised her and ME!  He also had a family member video tape the event for those of us not in KY at the moment!

That is what their ride in life is like… you have read about me and my friend’s ride… how about you?  

Share in the comments what your ride is like now… after all the changes we are all experiencing!!!

Have a blessed day Y’all!  Thanks for visiting and have a safe ride!  

P. S.  It took 2 hours to write this post due to new blogger interface… I hope this gets easier!

Hello Summer and Father’s Day 2020

As of yesterday evening… it is officially summer here in the USA!!

Today is Father’s Day… a day that brings me angst.  My dad & I don’t speak … there are a host of reasons for this… He and my mom are very different from me.  So on Father’s Days for the last decade or so… I focus on the positive role models in my life that are dads….

My grandfather here… I called Papa

 The husband of my children…. Here he is with our oldest child James…

 And the last photo we have of him smiling over 12 years ago now…

 So I felt this meme… really reflected how I felt about these powerful men in my life … as both my husband from the past and my grandfather are in Heaven today…. looking down and celebrating…

 This picture came up on my facebook feed recently…

Remember me working on hand quilting this quilt for Connie by bestie???!!!

Well here it is bound and washed and on her bed!!!!

Look at the binding she chose to put on this quilt… all the colors of the fabric are in it!!!!

 We are BOTH in love with the big stitch quilting you can see in these photos too!!!

                                      

Linking this awesome finish to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching HERE <<<<  Follow the link (it will open in a new tab so you don't lose your place here) !!
 Alex Andersen of “The Quilt Show” … I spied this cool art piece on her wall in a video I watched…

 Don’t we all need a Crazy Quilter art piece to explain us 🙂

Speaking of Crazy.. a couple weeks ago I showed you my crazy sewing room… well it is getting cleaner!!!!

 So I got to start cutting out my youngest son’s wedding commemorative wall hanging I am hand quilting after I machine piece the flimsy…

 Here is some laid out… this may be the last you see of this project though… as I don’t want them to see!!!!

 And look at that gorgeous engagement ring my son got his bride to be Kristen. 

Mike now also goes by Michael in his peer groups so I am trying to change a 25 year habit to not call him the shortened version any longer.

Hand quilting has been a daily thing this week… I am sew glad too ❤

 Above is the base picture for my new header for my blog.   Below is when I finished block #3 on this row I am on…

 And here is block 4… heading to the border!!!

 This morning I worked on the swag designs in the border a bit … I will go back to that when I get done with this blog as my honey sleeps in on Sundays!!!

 So with all the Corona Covid-19 stuff going on… do you worry more??? I know I sure do!!!!

 So this Bonnie-ism is in the forefront for me 🙂  Maybe we could all remember… like a rocking chair or a rocking horse… you can go and go but you stay right where you are… so throw your worries aside and stay safe and ….

 While I was digging through my scrapbooks looking for the pics I wanted to share with you all today… I came across this… Me as a preschooler….and me today!  I have my Papa’s silvery gray hair now too that replaced my reddish blonde locks!  I love that 😀

So as I hang on…

 I have found lots of ideas online this week that inspire me… Like this double wedding ring with a star block where the joins go….

 A flower quilt that comes together row by row by Lisa Capen Quilts on Youtube…

 And this quilt… after I finish the quilts in some sort of progress I would love to get this pattern … It is an older Fons and Porter pattern called “Pinwheel Star” but I have been unable to find it online yet as a pattern to buy so I may have to draft it… hmmmm!

 Amaryllis Watch!!!!

 These photos were taken Tuesday or Wednesday

 Then Thursday the bloom opened but only half heartedly in the late afternoon….

 But Friday it was wide open… with 5 more to come from this stalk…

 And look at the second stalk… it will have more blooms as it grows and matures taller…

 Now the second bloom is opening on that first stalk… and the other 4 are looking bigger!!!!

 Molly got her groom on yesterday and she is feeling so refreshed from her groom and wash!

Speaking of Molly… she is snoozing in with her dad right now!  Happy Father’s Day to my Honey too ❤  Here is a photo I took the other day of the 2 of them ❤  They have my heart for sure!!!!

Thanks for stopping in… please leave a comment if you have a minute… I love to reply to all the comments left for me💖  Thanks 😀

Lots of Hand Stitching this Week !

Memorial Day is a hard weekend for me for many reasons… 

 So when I found this Bonnie Hunter ism… I knew it needed to be my opening reminder… in case some of you have a tough time and need a lift out 🙂

Early last week I had all the pieces of the stuffy I was making for my sweet Ellie for her 1st birthday…

 This kind of pattern comes with LOTS of hand stitching in the beginning…..

 I was happy to have such a great strong machine though.. as this stuffy was thick and needed a heavy duty machine like Cleopatra my Singer 319w!!!

 I did also spend a bit of time on my red work…..

 And the second bear paw over is where I stopped last night on Appalachian Delight…

 In my search for a more comprehensive yet smaller sized book on embroidery….

 I unearthed this in my stash ….  And it is hard backed but has spiral binding inside…

 And it comes with such a fun way of chatting…

Linking all this hand stitching fun to Kathy and the crew at Kathy’s Quilts link up HERE <<<

 Lori Holt has come out with a new pattern…
 I love what she is using as a bed runner as a baseline idea for flowers for a spring table runner next spring!!!

Remember the meaning for those in the USA for Memorial Day… I time to remember those that gave the ultimate sacrifice to maintain our freedoms we have come to expect in the USA.

So as I close… and let this weekend slide away into next week … stay well and safe <<<  People are still dying from Covid 19 here in the US as we begin to return to a new normal.  What does it look like where you live?  Do you see lots of masks on others when you go out.. do you wear a mask when you go out around others???

We have some masks seen in this part of North Carolina but not enough for me yet!

Have a blessed week and thanks for stopping in!

March 8 ~ Daylight Savings Time << And sew much to share!!!

Happy Sunday my Quilty Crafty FUN friends !!!  Today do not forget if you are in a region that changes time like I am in North Carolina, USA… 

I am sew glad you stopped in for a visit this week!  I have a lot to share so grab a cuppa something good and let’s chat!

First some eye candy for you…

I am in a facebook group for 9 patch making… haven’t started my project yet.. I will be using a future quilt for this group 😀 THIS LOVELINESS is from a member of that group … she made this all herself!  Now to quilt it 😀

Hope y’all remember me making some lovely wall hangings for my great friend Holli Jo?!!  Well this week we were chatting as she had just returned home from a long winter visit with her dad… she shared these photos of wall hangings I made for her last year…

 I am blowing this one up for you …

Doesn’t her cutting table look sew wonderful topped with that banner… she has some neat gadgets and holders of her gadgets too ❤

My honey got jiggy with his hands and craftsmanship and figured a way to hang this very heavy fixture on a wall with no support boards behind it… mount it to a board then mount to the studs wherever they are!!!!  LOOK 😀

We bought that fixture a couple weeks ago at a thift shop for $25! YAY us 🙂

Most of this week I have found my mind wandering to these little blocks though and doing button hole stitching around them… until I ran out of prepared blocks to button hole stitch!!! OH NO!!!

 I had 20 completed and even 3 or 4 have crochet added to that button hole stitch in those in my “done” pile.  I have 80 blocks total cut in pairs and ready to make into blocks… 20 of those are in process so why not throw 20 more into processing… so me and Julius my 301 decided to take on the task…

 I sewed the 6″ blocks right side together with a bit of batting for the center.  Once I sewed around all but a small opening I trimmed close to the stitching and clipped the corners near the stitching on the 45 degree angle… I flipped and pressed them then hand stitched that little opening closed….

 Once all the little openings were closed I top stitched a hefty 1/4″ in all around each block to hold them all square and prep them for the button hole stitching 🙂

 Soon I had marked 20 dots per side plus the corner diagonal…

That is the correct set up Connie, my bestie who designed the crochet for this block decided…

Soon I was onto another … my little embroidery scissors accurately trimming threads…

 This morning I was happy to take a photo of 4 button hole stitched blocks for y’all!

I am using this crochet thread in size 10 for the button hole stitching and the crochet…

 In the end I will have something like this Crochet Quilt but more colorful because I am using rich colors in my fabrics…

I am linking all this button hole stitching to Kathy’s Quilts Sunday Stitching Link up… I do all the button hole and crochet by hand… she even chats about how therapeutic knitting is today HERE <<<

Of other importance this week … has been focusing a bit on hand quilting Appalachian Delight…

 I still have the inner bear paw on the right here below to stitch on… then it is to the sashing 😀

 I am doodling and keeping up with daily journaling in my bullet journal…

 I was using the manila colored paper below and transitioned into my bullet journal this week for first of March…

 I have changed it a bit for this week… ditching my layout above and trying this layout to give me more room to write about progress…

 I already am looking forward to this 🙂

High on my priority list in the sewing room is designing a dust cover for each of my 2 daily used vintage sewing machines…

 HERE <<< is a link to this online article with free helpful hints and a pattern to make the one above.

I like to get ideas online then do my own thing… so here is Cleopatra’s beginning…

 And below here I am pondering the pillow cover that is worn .. using as a pocket on the front to memorialize it in a seldom used pocket like the sample one has 🙂

 We tried a box of Jiffy blueberry muffin mix … looked lame until the blueberries were fully expanded and bubbling at the end of the cooking time… yummy!!!

 This week I have really followed Bonnie’s advice…

 Do you take time to just follow your heart sometimes???  I love when life slows down enough for me to !!!  Have a wonderful week and thanks for visiting!

More than sewing… but that was the funnest part! lol

Hi Friends 🙂  I saw this on facebook somewhere this week and saved it… 

Sewing is the blissful part of our days isn’t it!!!  Well in the spirit of FULL DISCLOSURE… I wrote to y’all last Sunday morning and this was in our river…

But by Sunday night we had it up in the right hand photo of the collage and by Monday night my honey was driving and mowing again!!  Just running out the gas he couldn’t get to empty from the tank! lol

Well.. when something happens to shift your perspective.. like your only lawn tractor taking a 15 foot drop with your honey on board and both eventually walking away … simply AMAZING and energizing too!!!  So what is a girl to do that loves to sew???  Well… SEW!!!

Early in the week when we were on edge I finished 2 swoons in my sleeplessness during the night…

 But by the time I reached the 3rd swoon I was ready for a break and life was slowing down… our mower could be fixed by my honey we realized at this point!!!

 I took a photo of 4 of the 7 primed blocks to share with you this week too…  While he was practicing on the mower and working out the kinks in the mower I stitched these outside… VERY PORTABLE!

 And while I slow stitched I enjoyed a month of free Netflix…  I have most enjoyed Mary Poppins returns… Emily Blunt did not disappoint!!!

Linking my slow stitching progress to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching gang HERE <<<<  Come see what is happening over there today 😀

While I didn’t make a ton of progress slow stitching I am not disappointed in my week as a whole in the stitching department because I got some major items off or active again on the UFO list…

 These lovely boy quilts are for a couple boys who are close to my dd Brandi… she had requested these several months ago and I pieced them then.
What is fun about each of these flimsies is that they were each made from extra fabrics I uncovered from my deep and donated stash items…. I uncovered this group and didn’t buy a thing for either quilt, backing or binding!!!

First I took them from being stored off to the side to layout out on the design wall where I measured and determined how much batting each needed and  used the rest of the batting I had in a basket waiting for these quilts 😀

 then I layered up Simon’s first…

 And quickly (about 1 full day of stitching) machine quilted the top into a quilt…

 Here it is ready for the binding to be sewn down…

 And the label my daughter and her beau helped me figure out …

 Binding in process …

 And  a view from the back 🙂  I sew the binding down by hand… this is what I am linking to HQAL group I belong too….

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Susan,  Nanette,  Edith, Sharon, Karrin, Gretchen and Kathi

Soon I was itching to mark and layer and start the stitching on the other quilt… as these do get shipped together !!!

I printed off my picture of the flimsy (quilt top) and drew on it…

 Then I took my white chalk pencil lead and a ruler and marked the quilt top 🙂

 Soon it too was layered up with pins and I was cross hatching the center panel 😀

Cleopatra and Julius… my 2 vintage lovelies … have handled all these jobs quite nicely!!!

Linking Simon’s quilt progress with Wendy’s Peacock Party <<HERE… I didn’t think these quilts were even on the horizon to find a place in my line up at the beginning of the week.. now they are both almost done!!!  AMAZING!!!

Also today I linked this project…

And this project ….

As finished for the month of July with Julie ~ The Crafty Quilter at her link up HERE <<<

Here is a great meme a friend shared on facebook this week… this should be EVERY DAY!!!

 Here is sweet Ellie… just passing 2 months old … I am a proud Gram for sure 😀

 Jannessa … my new friend … is making great progress on her wall hanging…

 She got the center medallion stitched and is making wonderful first stitches 🙂  We have a play date scheduled for later this week and we are both looking forward to it…

While doing yard work and playing catch up we noticed butterflies around our butterfly bush and took a bit of a break…

 Here is a black and white lovely butterfly …

 and light yellow and block…

 And a rose for you each…

 Connie’s progress on the Rooster project… I am LOVING it ❤

 My latest read in the bedroom is a quilt instruction book but it is written like a Quilt Folk mag really… quite enjoyable!

 Here is a great Bonnie-ism from last week…

We know we had a close call last weekend… we are extremely grateful to still be here for each other also… maybe that is where all this energy came from! lol

Or maybe from the update rx my doctor gave me for my arthritis pain when I saw him this week 😀

Have a blessed week y’all and don’t take any of it for granted… you are here for a reason!!!

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 !

Hand Quilting Progress and a Mountain Top Walkabout too !!

While we keep waiting for promised rain my honey has gotten lots of yard work done… we took a walkabout around our wonderful 1 1/2 acres of land and I wanted to share some highlights with you…

 Above is coming down the winding gravel drive to our home…  Look at the tulips in our neighbors yard and purple wildflowers that are all over right now too 😀

Below is following the gravel drive in front of our home and over the Valley River that runs through the side of our yard 🙂

 Here is a far off look at our home… there is a big pond behind it that I have shared in the past …

 Here is the gravel drive continuing and an old corkscrew willow and some other nice trees and bushes…

 And here is that same corkscrew willow from our front porch 😀

 And the view by my front porch includes some hosta and these cute little bell shaped lavender flowers…

 Upon closer inspection and asking google I found out they are a variety of BLUE BELLS!!!!

 And here are some tulips where last year there was only 1 here… this year there are 2!

 And between some other shrubs are a couple others… hope they keep on multiplying in future years too!!!

 Here is a sunrise one morning over my quilting frame … which now brings us to my favorite part to share!!!  PROGRESS!!!!

Quilting and creating with fabric in all ways is an obsession with me… is it with you???  Check out this Bonnie-ism I read this week…

This past week I listened to audio books… another obsession and a new one as it lets me focus on creating with needle and thread instead of watching a screen all the time like movies entice you to.  Before I knew it I had the first 3 blocks of this quilt figured out and quilted!!

 Soon the 4th block joined followed soon thereafter by the 5th!!!

 Here they all are… pic is a tad blurred and the 5th block is still wet a bit but I was excited to roll the quilt!!! lol

 So then I was able to focus on this 2nd row…

 I decided to just stick to the cross hatching I had used on the nature blocks backgrounds for those…

 And here is my progress this morning…

 And my view is going to the squirrel block today… you can see my layout below!

Linking this fun hand stitching to Kathy’s Slow Stitching Sunday HERE … she is asking what challenges we face as we put our stitches in my hand…  Well I am designed my quilting plan as I went last week… now I am just carrying that out as I march up the quilt… but I did have to take out some hand stitches around the nature blocks on the first row as I put in grey thin thread initially on the inner round… now I know I want 2 rows of the navy thicker thread to have them look like windows… Thanks to my bestie for helping me figure out this trick of the eye…

You can see above… the 2 rows of navy around the block help it look like you are looking in a window… and the diagonal stitching around the block also helps conceal it… I am giddy to see this quilt completed soon too ❤  There are 6 rows including Elliana's name as a row… not sure how I will quilt that row yet!!! lol

For the Peacock Party at Wendy’s this week … right HERE…I want to share not just one but 2 ironing surfaces I fixed up!!!  Wendy has a wonderful quilt for sale if you in New Zealand… she doesn’t want to ship abroad on this item… but it is lovely and she shares lovely photos of her work on it 😀

The fabric that is to become ironing surfaces I found on eBay!!!  I found 5 yards of this fab vintage fabric a while back and stashed it … well when my bestie saw it when I shared my vision of it with her on a custom sized ironing surface as well!!!

Here is mine so you know what I am talking about….

Here it is in action too…

Not a typical ironing board you see like the hexi fabric covered board… but a rectangular surface for ironing quilt blocks and binding strips and such… Linking this finish to Julie’s UFO & WIP List for April HERE.

The Anatomy of this ironing surface is some 3/4″ plywood… and an old but still fluffy towel.

 I added snaps to this one and love that instead of making it longer to hang off the side to stay on the board over time…

 I added snaps using a hammer my honey donated to me and this tool I found HERE.  They ship all over the world… I don’t get anything just trying to help you be proficient in making an ironing surface 🙂

 And Ta Dah!!!!  It is done… I added a handle to each of ours to make it easy to move about… she will be storing hers or hanging it up by the handle so I reinforced them by added fabric on the underside of where the handle joins the ironing board cover… I made the handle several layers thick… and made the reinforcement squares several layers thick too… I used french feld seams as well so the only raw seams are inside the towel which I used my pinking shears on to decrease strings when washed.

 These ironing surfaces (one more to make still as I need a second one for my second frequently used machine…) work well whether you use starch, starch alternative, steam, water spritzers … all that is fine on the plywood, towel, and fabric covers… I washed the towel of the first one I shared above for the first time since I made it almost a year ago… no stains on the wood and I use lots of steam and lots of Best Press and water spritzing too… I flip it over when it gets dirty and use the other side… it was nice to wash it but it was best to recover it as I wanted a fresh look and I got it 😀

Feel free to ask questions about my ironing surfaces if you have them.  I am happy to answer them for you… we do sand the edges of the plywood and esp the corners so they aren’t prickly very well before I add the towel and cover if that helps you… I sit mine on a stool or small table and my bestie is putting hers on a tv tray she has 🙂  Linking these Ironing Surfaces I have made to the End of the Month Challenge by Julie HERE >>>

For now I bid  you all adieu and hope to hear from each of you that made it this far via a message below!  Until my next post…

Busy Week… Now time to slow it down !!!

Hi y’all!  Thanks for stopping in for a visit … we are experiencing very cool weather post Thanksgiving so I am getting lots of quilting done.  Look at the beautiful plant we got earlier this week!

When we bought it … it was just 2 stalks but water and sunshine from my sewing room window gave us blooms galore!!!

 Here are the photos we got for Thanksgiving of Daisy Meadows… from across the pond!!!

And our facebook shot with embellishments…

 We had a wonderful Thanksgiving feast with ham and lots of sides… some homemade and some store bought and all were fabulous together… still nibbling on a few of the leftovers too 💖  My favorite thing from the holidays are leftovers and family time.

Here is Molly in her fave snuggling spot… down by my honey’s feet when he is resting his hurting hip in the recliner….

And here she is trying to be my assistant while I sew in my sewing room! lol

I think this may be the best pic I have been able to catch of her and hope to do some applique of an ornament of her face or something… ideas are bubbling from this shot though!!!

Last week I enjoyed a bit of fireside stitching…

 And enjoyed a few days of beautiful sunsets from the windows by my frame….

 Then this morning I made a new Sunday morning photo for December for facebook…

 Speaking so much of facebook… look what I saw completed in one of my groups….

 It is appliqued and hand quilted and I am in lust with this pattern … so I found one for half the going price on eBay and am anxiously awaiting the directions…

This is a complex pattern to me who has done very little applique … so I will ponder the best way to make this wall hanging with my skill set but I love it and hope to have it done and hanging for our Christmas season next year !!!

As for Christmas this year… I finished the tree skirt I was working on with a piping around the edges instead of binding….  I did enjoy the string piecing of the center and working out the math… I like the star finish too… just did NOT care for the piping edge… I should have taken the extra time to do a binding edge or something instead of bagging it for my skills! lol  Lesson learned for sure 😀

 Don’t know if you can see this photo a bit better but I even made button loops and sewed on holly leaf buttons down the open side.  The photo is a bit whippy jawed I see now… but it was fairly fun… not as easy as I hoped but finished is better than perfect for sure on this kind of project!!!!

But.. instead of continuing to complain about the finish I will enjoy it for years to come… It was fun and has some pretty sentimental fabrics in it that make it completely ours 🙂

Here was a great statement I read that Bonnie Hunter shared this morning… it rings VERY true for me….

Are you doing these things??? Are you living a life you have always imagined… I AM!!!!  YAY 🙂

I finished the blocks for Appalachian Delight’s center and came up with a layout me and my honey like as far as all the colors and backgrounds go…

 I found a new website to me with calculations on making the square in a square cornerstones correctly too…

There were plenty other units they offered calculations to as well… look at my photo for the website and check it out if you have interest/need!

I cut the sashings lengthwise for less stretching during assembly and then cut the outer square parts… wrong the first time but had enough fabric in this solid burgundy to cut them right AND cut the binding for the quilt too ❤  YAY!!!

 Here is a glimpse of what the quilt center will be looking like once sewn together…

 And here are my sashings and square in a square blocks all done…

I am really savoring and enjoying this quilt assembly… I am in no rush because I have the quilt I am working on hand quilting.. then I am HOPEFULLY going to be quilting a quilt for my bestie that she is piecing now… a Swoon quilt block design 😀  I am excited to quilt this for her!!!

As for my hand quilting… I got the border and some of the center done last Sunday…

And somehow worked my way across without a photo to be found in my phone!!!  So here we are yesterday as I marked out the last of the center…

And here I am this morning with about half that done… The rest of the center and the border will be my goal for today!!  Watching Hallmark movies and stitching 😀  Yummy!

With that goal in mind.. I am linking to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching linky HERE… She is located in Canada and they are wishing they could exit daily life to hibernate during the dreary winter months!  I am sure in a month or so I will be ready to join her cause too ❤ lol!

Here is a little vintage 1930’s sewing machine we sold this week…

 I just this that old sewing machines are beautiful and feel blessed to sew on a 1950’s machine lot myself 🙂

For now I will close and wish you all a blessed Sunday and remember to …