Sew Happy Fall is Here!!

Welcome Y’all!

Grab a coke or a coffee and come see what all has been going on with me and mine 😀

We took a long planned on trip the first part of October… it was meant to be 3 days and 2 nights and a quick visit with my 3 of my kids during the visit too!  Well I got to see 2 of my kids in the end… but that isn’t all!!!

My honey worked on making a shed into a she shed… the conversion started!!!  Yippee!!!

My bestie Connie had relocated and added electricity and stabilization to the building… now it was time for my honey to work his magic.

This visit he changed the shed doors into a regular door that seals the building and locks 🙂

And he is able to accomplish all that during our 4 days and 3 nights…

Yep that is right we had to stay and extra day and Rick and I were completely drained and exhausted from the trip and all that was involved in our first trip of many to come for this job  🙂

What was the first thing that greeted me the following day when we finally made it to the post office to retrieve our mail…   I WAS A WINNER!!!

check out Virginia on Youtube HERE  ~ or Etsy HERE <<<

I follow her on Youtube and the above link will take you to the episode where I won these hand made pattern weights for bag making!!!  Both links will open in a new tab too btw 😀

I love these pattern weights though and had planned to make some… when I found some extra time 😀  I love her choices of fabrics too!!!

As I suggested above … we don’t travel much since we moved… in fact since we moved into Daisy Meadows (the name of our little slice of heaven) the only 2 nights out were when my honey had his hip replaced in Asheville and that was exhausting and overwhelming also!!!

The hotel my friend found for us was AMAZING!  Only the size of the refrigerator in room was a disappointment… my name was even on the television when we would first turn it on!!!

During our stay in the hotel Connie presented us with this basket she had fashioned from tshirt made yarn… into a canister to hold snacks for our room .

We love that she chose our colors too…

It has the sole purpose now at home of sitting on the bar and holding our daily med boxes and bottles of vitamins that we take! lol  We truly love it… from the bits she has left over she plans to make us a trivet too… I must make sure this is cotton tshirts though!!! lol

While thrift shopping one day in Tennessee …we came across this wreath !!!  I fell in love and my honey found the perfect place to hang it when we got home too 😀

 While we were with Connie she shared the finished EPP rooster she finished for me (this is what she did for me quilting her quilt… she offered to applique it to the black background… but I kinda want to do this part…

Do you know of a video tutorial for adding a dark fabric behind a light fabric without a lot of shadowing???  

 >> Ideas anyone?? <<

I plan to add a thinner black border to stabilize the piece then add a brown mitered corner border like a picture frame around that to look like wood!

I got some fabric here… the burgandy and tan plaid woven.. to make napkins out of!  Now to find time for something that simple!!!

 I haven’t touched the quilting of the boy turkey yet either…

 But if you noticed… I did do some decorating around my 319 where I will be sitting to do this drasted machine quilting part… soon I will be to the hand quilting in the border!!!

I even bought a small 14″ PVC square frame to put together for the border…

 That inexpensive put together frame… will be the answer to getting to the outer borders instead of my round hoop I think… Connie has one and it works well for her too!

Jannessa finished her wall hanging to a flimsy…
and she has done all the machine quilting and is working on her hand quilting of fall leaves down each side!!!  She is quick and smart ❤

Finally, I was commissioned to make a bunting or 2 for a good friend… well  you don’t necessarily take $$ for things.. instead my good friend decided to gift me with 2 charm packs that match my kitchen… I fell in love with this 1/2 yard of fabric and it came in this week too…

 Doesn’t it look great together… I need a 60 x 20 table topper and a fairly large coordinating wall hanging .. Ideas are brewing for this… more on those buntings in another post!

Finally… while in Lebanon me and my honey went to a DIFFERENT thrift shop than where I found the wreath… and they were having a silent auction on this cool piece… and this shot does NOT do this fish wagon justice… We will get to have it during the next passing (probably January when Rick will do the electrical sockets and pre wire for lighting and add ceiling joists etc….)

 We added our silent auction bid… and then Connie went back and bid on it for us again … then Connie missed sleep after a long night at work to win this for us and gifted it to Rick for all the hard work he accomplished giving her a new front and door to her evolving She Shed!!!!  WOWEEE!!!!!

Seeing 2 of my 4 children (all are grown and have special people in their lives now)  I am blessed for sure!!!

So here is a cool collage I made to share with you all!

Finally, I got lessons on how to crochet around these little blocks I have been sewing and blanket stitching by hand!!!!

 and I am finally on the last round of my FIRST BLOCK! hahahahahaha  …

But I am enjoying it… and life is about enjoying the journey for sure!!!!

Speaking of enjoyment… during all this craziness… I finished the bottom of the 3rd row of swoons….

 And rolled the quilt down….

  Now I am happily making great progress on the middle of the 3rd row of swoons 😀

 If you listen to Virginia Lindsay’s video she mentions Skill Share… it is a Bluprint Like service for beginning teachers as well as accomplished teachers of all kinds of arts and crafts… they encourage newbies and have “classes” you can watch to learn how to become an online teacher of your fave craft!  Check out the link in Virginia’s youtube video … 2 months free I think too to try it out ❤

 That is what I am doing 😀

Got any old wool sweaters with holes in them you want to donate to me??? lol!

Brandi sent me this photo of her graduation quilt on her bed with the pillows and shams too… They LOVE them 😀

 I saw this on facebook this week…  Wouldn’t this be cool in a bedroom or library to display extra quilts 😀

 Here is a bag I will be making for my daughter for her Christmas …

 I will be using purple and gold though!!!  Ordered the hardware this week too 😀

Molly is 16 months old now!  And while we were in Tennessee…

 She stayed with my great friend Jannessa… I am blessed in the great friend department y’all!

 And Jannessa has Max (below)…

 and they love to play together !!!  Molly learned how to play like a dog with a dog during our 4 days away!!! YAY 😀

She and Max are great buddies… it is nice to have a quilty friend who has a playmate to share too!!!

Jannessa gave me an early Christmas present… the 2019 Hallmark sewing related ornament is a treadle!!!

 Can you see that little treadle on the shelf left of our old sewing machine and Raggedy Ann ??

 The 3 of us are planning a get together in April hopefully (when Connie gets a break from working ) to make barn quilts together!!!!  Here is one I find enticing …

 Here is your Bonnie-ism.. first one in a while too I guess…

She is getting revved up for a visit to Kenya, Africa with a travel company and others who enjoy exotic traveling!!!

So I hope you have enjoyed the catch up post.  I will add a link the Slow Stitching Sunday with Kathy and getting the low down on her retreat HERE <<<<

Have a blessed week y’all… be happy or be busy seeking it!!! ❤

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Whooping on a Friday about Starlight… Starbright and sooo much more!!!!

Hello my bloggy friends… sorry I have been consumed in my life and not writing to you all! So let’s recap what has been going on around here to keep me so busy!!!

Quilting on Starlight… Starbright is going WELL!!!!

I am now at the halfway pinnacle of quilting on this lovely quilt… I hope to be done by mid July.. but we will see… she will be home and expecting it completed on August 3!!!  Linking this Whooping Moment to Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict Whoop Whoop Friday Post HERE <<<

I was VERY excited last weekend when DL, Kayla and CJ dropped by and gave me this photo…

 From their elopement day!!!!

Above is Kayla in her beautiful wedding frock and her son CJ cheesing for the camera as they are ready to depart in the Jeep DL rented for 24 hours… he proposed when he arrived with the Jeep for her (her fave type of vehicle is a jacked up Jeep like the one in the photo above)… we live in a tourist’s mecca and a Jeep dealership here rents Jeeps like this for 24 hours at a time…

So my son DL proposed on an eve in March and the next day is the photo above and the cool frame they put together for me below from their wedding day at the courthouse!  They hired a friend to photo them after the ceremony… we had been anxiously waiting these photos… I think the photographer did a RAD job too!!!

If you look in the photo collage above… the top right is a silly photo with CJ playing with DL… then DL and Kayla are holding a sign Kayla designed and wrote on that says “The Byrum’s”  and a great family photo on the bottom of the collage!!!!

It sits front and center in my living room presently and since none of my other kids are planning a wedding anytime soon (that I know of anyway! lol)  it will probably stay there for a bit too!

I am gearing up for a new piecing project… a new bed quilt for our queen sized bed!!!!

The planning for this yet unnamed scrappy quilt is in full swing!!!!

This is an adaptation of Fons and Porter’s pattern called “Emily’s Wedding Quilt” that I found in a free PDF downloaded book… however it is just 2 blocks alternating and instead of making them the pattern called for size of 9″ I am making my blocks 12″ finished and changing up my outer border to just a simple white sashing… “Singing the Blues” is a name that has been coming to me… but I am just not sure.

The story of why we need this quilt and why I am actually bumping other projects I had planned… and holding off a bit on starting the quilting on the wall hanging that is on my new frame… to start a new project is simple… our current quilt… my first quilt to make… is worn out!

I have been inspecting this quilt and trying to convince myself that it would be okay… but the process of making a quilt to a flimsy, then hand quilting and binding it and washing and using it will be about 6 months in reality… so moving it up the ladder now is what I am doing… Increasing it’s importance as we will soon be sleeping under something store bought if I don’t get this show on the road!! lol  Yuck!

So I am collecting 5″ charm squares in light, medium and dark blues for the quilt blocks…

I have assigned a place for each shade of blue… here on the right you can see a row of what I have deemed light… then 2 rows of medium blues (these will end up all being cut to smaller pieces in the block making process) and finally some dark navy blues (these will be centers of each block so no duplicating here)….

And since I took that shot of the quilt I have added lots more info to that sheet of paper… I have counted how many hst’s I need to make and how many tri recs angles I need to cut… how many 4 patches to make…

I am mixing these blues with steel grey by Kona and Optic White 🙂  I think this quilt is gonna be very cool and hold lots of memories of quilts made in the last 5 years too!!!!

Currently I have about 2/3 of the total amount needed to get busy with the piecing… I want to have all the blues together before I start in earnest on this project… I have some close friends sending me some blues for this quilt also… add more meaning to it for sure!!!

I have NO IDEA how I will quilt it… but I do know it will be quilted on my new frame and after the wall hanging is finished…

So I have to get Brandi’s quilt done and yet still devote some time to the wall hanging daily as well as block making or block part making each day… must get more organized I think to meet these goals along with house chores and other things that take up my days and nights…. lol!

Also… I have been having some thread breaking issues with my 401a Zena… it has gotten so bad that I finally decided time to replace her … my honey finally agreed and now there is a Clarinda in the house!!!!

She is a beautiful two toned blue… she has a matte finished bed and body and shiny top hat area… She is 1 year younger than me as I was born in 1966 and her manual is dated 1966 copyright but all the 347K’s were made in Great Britain for only 1 year.

Here is all that she came with… but her blue color doesn’t show below I don’t think like it does more truly in the photo above…

Clarinda had a big wad of lint UNDER the bobbin case area under the hook actually… so my honey has put lots of TLC into getting her running for me… we found her on eBay through a resale shop for sale and made them an offer which eventually we agreed to a price… I am happy with the deal but wish my honey hadn’t had to devote so much time to getting Clarinda ready for me to use!

I hope to have a shot of here not in the portable case or in a state of repair on the table but in the queen anne cabinet Zena currently resides in… I think it will make a beautiful “dress” for Clarinda!

As for Zena… she has a strong motor and is a good machine otherwise so she can be parted out for others to replace parts on their 401’s 😉

Come on back on Sunday… I plan to hand quilt this weekend and JUST GOT IN 2 new thimbles to compare and contrast for you all!

So have your thimble questions ready!!

Hope you have a blessed Friday and a Great Weekend too!!! 

And remember… no matter how rough the road may get from time to time… 

So much to share from this week! My frame is LOADED!!!!

So happy to be here to share with you all this week… I want to start out with happy wishes to all my Mom readers…

Seems this may be an international holiday too!  Canada, Australia and the US all celebrate today!

I am linking this post to my Canadian bloggy friend Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching HERE <<<
     PLEASE take a look at her awesome blocks she is constructing presently and showing off progress on her blog today 🙂  I really am enjoying watching this project come to life!!!

I have an updated pic of my grandkids to share on this day also!!!!

Here is Kaydence at 11 months old… her mother is in the background too 🙂

Aren’t they both just beauties!!!??  She is an awesome mom and DIL also!

Kaydence turns 1 year old on the last day of May !!!!  She lives in Tennessee where we are all from… so I doubt I will be seeing her before she turns one… but I love finding shots of her!!! lol

And here is a cool shot I found from March 2016 of CJ with his dad… my oldest son DL 😀

CJ will be 2 years old on June 6… so less than a month! 🙂  I am very excited about this as he lives near me and I may be seeing him around then also!  They will honor him on this birthday with his first HAIRCUT! lol

And here he is playing with the little wagon in our Florida room 🙂  xxoo

As for me??!!!  I have been sooo busy!

First some update shots of Brandi’s Starlight ~ Starbright Quilt I am working on in my PVC frame 🙂  Last week I was almost 1/2 way through the 4th block of 9 on this quilt…

and I shared the photo above as my progress to be… well by Tuesday I had moved the quilt in the frame…

Today I took this shot…

I have taken off some time from hand quilting this to work on finalizing my Spiral Log Cabin Flimsy and get it ready for hand quilting…

Here is the whole framed up part for you to see on this 4th block progress…

So if you can tell I am in the bottom left hand corner presently… and should make it about halfway across today… as this quilt will now be my focus… my daughter’s 18th birthday is end of July and I want this done when she returns from a summertime trip she is taking! 🙂

These blocks are each 28″ so it is hard to get bored or tired of this quilting… if you love hand quilting… and taking time to share pics with you helps me chart my progress too!  Halfway through the 5th block will be halfway… I am anxious to see that come about sooner than later! 🙂

So what has been keeping me away from quilting on Starlight ~ Starbright??

First I cut and shared my starting progress on a flying geese border for this quilt center to get adorned with…

 Here were my flying geese in production…

 I used the Easy Angle ruler and Companion angle ruler to cut these and all turned out PERFECT!!!!

 Above are the 40 flying geese I needed… and below is how I set them on this quilt center…

 Then I used the “neutral fabric” from the flying geeese and cut borders for the quilt… this took a couple days as it went on fairly easy but lots of seams for sure to mind while sewing….

I must say I love the end wall hanging for our living room though!!!

And this flimsy will be the first to adorn my newly finished Hinterberg Hand Quilting Frame my honey & I finished this week!!!!

Last week I shared the frame shots while it was being made… but this week I am sharing it adorned with the flimsy above!!!

First though… I want to share the quilting frame in place… it is 10 feet long and that can be a no go for some quilters as space is an issue for something this long… but check it out!!!

Here you can see our living room… I am standing in the dining room/kitchen area to get this shot…

 And can you see the frame peeking out over our mussed up sofa?? lol

 Here it is!!!  Waiting on the poles to come on payday! lol

 And with the metal poles in place (it is electrical conduit… very stiff and unbending really!)

Here is a shot from the day after the leader fabric arrived and was washed, dried, ironed, torn to length for a nice square piece of fabric… then divided per the directions that came with the frame into 3 pieces….

 I chose a horizontal stripe fabric as a suggestion from a bloggy friend with a similar style frame… she said hers came with it and it helps her pin it straight… I am sooo HAPPY I DID THIS also!!!!

I also marked the center of the fabric “leaders” on each pole with a permanent marker to mark the centerpoint… you use this to mount everything and not have it cattiwaumpus on there! lol

 Finally… after several tries and then a good nights sleep and a good pressing of my flimsy and this was ready to go back on the frame without any wrinkles or lack of tension… it just flowed on when I was fresh and took my time! lol

So remember this if you try something new like this… try it really when you are at your most astute…

I do want to give a HUGE SHOUT OUT in this post to my friend Wendy!  Find her blog here where she is currently showing her BOM for May.. a very cool block… including directions for assembly of this “Puss in the corner” block! >>>>> HERE <<<<<<

You see this frame wouldn’t have been on my radar and I would have still been using a hoop only for these bigger quilts had it not been for her encouragement and the way she is soooo versatile with her frame too!  She has a Hinterberg frame built from a kit like mine is… and the company just recently had some kits made up for sale… I got this one just about 6 weeks ago and look at me now!

Wendy has encouraged me and my honey along in this process and shared pics and info about her frame and how she uses it best with all she has learned over the years… I am blessed to call her my friend for sure!!!

And before I let you go… check out what my daughter found last week at a neighborhood yard sale!!!!

 this little foot stool fits neatly under the chair it now sits at… but isn’t this doxie life like on the tapestry!!!!  I fell in love.. now this shot was taken after a good washing (years of dirt on this one when it was brought into the house!) and it had dried overnight.

But check out Daisy now next to that doxie foot stool!

 I thought she was looking like a model sitting next to her likeness!  We showed it to her and she barked at it! lol  Wonder what dogs really think.. how they interpret what they see with lack of some colours??!!

Enough pondering with you for today I think.. Have a blessed Mother’s Day wherever you are and remember no matter what…

A Slow Stitching May Day !!

Happy May Day to you my bloggy friends…

I hope you are making time to stitch at this wonderful time of year 🙂

I sure am!!!

Earlier this week I finished this cool wall hanging… it is a mix of slow and fast stitched quilting 🙂

This was a wedding gift for my oldest son who eloped with his beautiful bride last month.. so a bit belated but they didn’t seem to mind! 🙂  You can read and see more pics on this quilted finish HERE 🙂

Also my honey and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary yesterday!!!!

 Above is the photo I post on my facebook page 🙂

My daughter made me a bracelet… I enjoy a stretchy bracelet on my wrist… when I get nervous or anxious I play with it! lol

So she made me a rubber band version in colors I chose… I think it turned out quite nice too!

Since finishing the wedding wall hanging I have refocused on Brandi’s Starlight ~ Starbright quilting though… nice and slow!!!!

Here was my progress exactly 2 months since I started this quilt… I am on the 4th block of 9 presently….

 Here is a close up.. use my needle minder to orient yourself to where this is in my frame if you like 😉

 Here is a fun slant on my progress…

 And here is a straight on view…

 I am currently big stitching around the top of the star…

 And here is my remaining part to quilt today and tomorrow probably 🙂

I am also working on my Spiral Log Cabin quilt again… I have the center now bordered with a thin black border that brings my measurements up to the right size for the next border…

 and here are the flying geese that will make up the next border … in progress on my ironing surface! 🙂

While I have been working on all these things my honey has been busy constructing a Hinterberg Hand quilting Frame 🙂  YIPEEE!!!!!

It started with some specialty parts and machine cut wood pieces in a box we ordered a few weeks ago as soon as they became available on their website…. then the instructions explained what wood to buy and how to cut it… it was all Greek to me! lol  but my honey is a master woodworker with things like this and he figured it all out…

Here is a picture of the raw wood being held in place to get our first idea of what the end would look like…

And here it is laid out on the floor.. the small parts have already gotten stained at this point…

Here it is now stained and top coated… 

This actually took several days to get the wood cut and detail cut and sanded all down… then stained… cured… and top coated and cured.

It still seemed fast to us though… It is NOW ready to use once we buy the poles for it next week!

I know it is long… we made it as big as the instructions called for so it would be versatile.

We also have more “tweeking” to do to give me side tension ability etc… Lighting and a good chair are necessary too… but instead of thinking of all that… 

I would rather dream of that Log Cabin being done so I can load it in this frame!!! My first quilt to load in it!!!

Well… I have shared quite a bit… if you made it this far CONGRATS!!!   Hope you were entertained!

If you have a similar hand quilting frame and ideas on how to load a 3 rail system the easiest please let me know.

Also I am planning to buy the leader fabric for the poles next week also… thinking I got a lot of zig zagged edges to keep the fabric from fraying over the years too!  Oh well, it is all worth it in the end!!!  

Hope you have a blessed Sunday and Cheers to Slow Stitching with MUSTER…

Speaking of mustering… check out Kathy’s Quilts blog today and see what that is all about and what fun hand work people are linking right HERE!

Remember… no matter the highs or lows each day… even each minute… Life IS Beautiful!!

Sunny Sunday to You!

I am so excited it is time to share at Kathy’s Quilts … Slow Sunday Stitchin Linky!  Link is at the end of this post for you to see what other’s are linking up!

I have had a week full of fun stuff but am most excited about my Slow Stitching progress…

Check this out… I am now 1/3 of the way done with this quilt here in this shot!  Look at a close up of how my first corner came out too!!!

I am so happy with how all this is working out on my new PVC frame too… here is a shot AFTER I moved the quilt to start the next block…

I really love this set up out here in my Florida room ( screened and windowed covered porch) 🙂

The parrots over my frame are colorful and a fun addition to having to stare at a wall when I am pondering this quilt.. I am happy I got them to keep me company when I quilt early in the morning ! 🙂

So a BIG birthday is coming up for me in July… my 50th.. and I decided after having this PVC frame that a regular quilting frame that is about 10 feet long is really what I want to quilt big quilts on in the future… I have the wholecloth that is only 1/4 done and needs finishing and we desperately need a new bed quilt after that!  So we bought a kit from Hinterberg frames.  I contacted them by the phone number on their website and their customer service is wonderful via phone and email!

Here is the naked wood my honey is using to assemble this kit with… this is just being held up in this first shot… to give you an idea what it will look like!

 Here are some of the specialty parts that come with the kit all stained “gunstock” color…

 Here is all the wood pieces cut except the long 10 FOOT tressle piece! lol

The gears came in the kit but added a fun contrast above we thought.. my honey actually posed this shot for me and I took it! lol

So that is what I will be doing on July 4, 2016… quilting at my new frame… if not before!!!!!

I have also gotten my Spiral Log Cabin quilt sewn together and planning the innermost border to bring it up to size for a pieced inner border..

I really love this project.. it is challenging me in some ways and confirming that I am “getting it ” at other times! 🙂  I like that!  I miss the challenges nursing kept in my life… I am finally to a place in quilting where I am challenging myself and pushing my own borders!   Do you ever take on a project knowing it will stretch your comfort zone??

Also this week….

My grandson CJ came over to play!

Isn’t he a cutie!!! He is so fun to be with too.. he is not a fussy kid at all! 🙂

I completed my BOM for Wehago Designs…

I liked this so much I chatted with my honey and we decided the pattern would be very similar for our next bed quilt… you see our current bed quilt we sleep under ever since I made it almost 5 years ago as my first quilt!!!  It needs some minor repair and a new binding and to be hung on a quilt rack for a rest… I need another to rotate with it once it is fixed… so here is my idea…

I will use more of a slate grey instead of her mushroom grey.. I will use her same white and scrappy appearance in blues… mainly medium and dark blues so it will hold up to being close to the steel grey I plan to use for it that I found in my stash… I bought it for another quilt that hasn’t gotten made yet and is a bit dark for it… I will use this for this project and be happier I think!

So I am now collecting 5″ squares of medium and dark blue prints.. I will buy the white fabric next month… and then all I need is the stars to align and my other projects get finished as I wait for it to rain blue fabrics my way! lol  I did pull some from my 5″ square box.. I am recruiting friends to send me some blues from their own stash too in 5″ squares or larger is my request!  We shall see.. I hope to spend my 50th birthday this year at my frame and piecing this when taking breaks!  lol!!!!

Other exciting stuff that happened this week…

My winnings I like to call blog candy… lol…  from the blog giveaway came in….

Here is the lovely fabric by my fave Cotton + Steel (via the UK sender)

And a very cool UK mag…

There was more but it is getting regifted so you can see it once it is rehomed 🙂  Overall I am overjoyed though!!!

I did get this green charm pack this week…

 42 shades of GREEEN!!!!  This was a stellar sale at Fat Quarter Shop.. the charm pack was $.68 and shipping was $2.50!!!  Came in 3 days too!!!

If I could only find one of these in BLUES would be PERFECT huh!!!! lol

Speaking of Perfection… Pat and Robin loved the gifts I made them and featured last week!

And what is next???

I got a fun word panel I saw someone on my facebook groups shared and fell in love as a wedding gift for my son and his new wife… did I tell you my oldest is now a married man??? Love his choice in wives too! 🙂  So I am making them a cute panel adorned with scrappy charms… with a modern edge.. or so I am hoping…

She loves modern… I am hoping she loves this and he loves it enough to display it in their home.. I am planning to give them a walmart card to buy a curtain rod or some sort of decorative rod to hang it by… that matches their style….

Would love feedback if you are so inclined!!!!

Have a blessed week ya’ll… I plan to keep on trucking and catch you next Sunday.. unless I get a wild hair and decide to post before then of course! lol

HERE is the link to Kathy’s Linky Party today… come check it out now!!! 🙂

Remember… no matter how bumpy the road may get…

P. S.  It is NOT Sunny in this area of Florida today.. so I made my own with this post… sorry so long but it felt good to catch up 🙂

Progress ~ On all fronts :)

Sorry I haven’t shared with you all yet this month!  But progress has been happening here!!!

First let me share my hand quilting progress… for this sharing I will be linking to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching HERE …

Above is my progress a week ago…

And below is what I am working on this week…

I am about half done or a bit more presently with this area 🙂   On the quilting for this quilt I am over 30% now !!!!   Progress!!!!

And did you notice the little pink and white cameo of a hand crank machine attached to my quilt??

It is a NEEDLE KEEPER!!!!  Given to me by my friend Debbie!  I LOVE it too!

The cameo has a strong magnet on the backside and then you take the second magnet and put under your quilt… the magnets are VERY strong too and work well to hold my needles while quilting 🙂

I haven’t made any new progress on my Log Cabin quilt I pieced into blocks last month… but that will soon meet my cross hairs and get webbed together 🙂

I am trying to figure out my inner border… so that stalled me a bit then a need came along that took all my attention…

Oven mitts…

See how small the center ones are compared to the 2 new ones I completed this past week!

I altered the original pattern I found from Crafty Gemini on Youtube… and made it BIGGER!

I think it turned out well the second time around… it made up easier and washes well and works wonderfully well… so with this fabric I decided to make some very good friends who just bought a new and maybe their final home … so a house warming gift was in order!!!!

Here is my pattern made out of plain cardstock I use in the computer printer…

and here is their first oven mitt…

It was great fun making them and I really got to test out my 401a… these Singer sewing machines from the 1950’s that were all metal just rock!!!!

Well Robin had recently mentioned she would like me to make her a quilt for her KING SIZE bed!  Oh my… no time yet for that… so whilst sewing the mitts I planned a cute loving pillow for Robin… she is still healing from open heart surgery and having some complications in her healing…

I did a bit of hand embroidery after I machine quilted both the front and back panel of the pillow… Her fave colors she said are green, red and white… and I think this pretty fabric fits the bill perfectly… Yippeee!!!!

Soon I had them all ready to wash and  mail off to them at their NEW address 🙂  ..

I am excited as they should receive them in Monday’s mail!!!!

So that is why I haven’t had time to catch you all up… hope you understand… I have been busy! lol

I also bought a little flag for our front door this week…

 And here is a perspective view of our front porch at Casa Del Loro ….

Also… I was excited to find out…. I won a bloggers linky party loot!!!!

 Here is a close up of the fabrics…

And HERE is a link to her LOVELY blog!

The fabrics are a fat eighth bundle… she got a fat quarter bundle and divided it to share with one lucky linker… I was it!!!!

You see I love doing giveaways… but I never WIN!!! lol  So I was giddy to win this and coming to me from the UK!!!!  I love long distance fabrics in my stash the most for sure!!!

So what is next??!!

I will be piecing a BOM by Wendy at Wehago Designs >>>> HERE!

You can surely join in if you are interested… we are in our 4th month of 9 patch variations BOM.. each month is a surprise provided by Wendy with all the cutting and piecing specifics to make a 12″ finished block!!!!

She provides hand piecing and machine piecing tidbits too!  Awesome 🙂

I have more to share but I suspect this is enough for this post… I will not be away so long… continue to send up happy thoughts for my right hand to heal from some broken fingernails… so I can pick up the pace this coming week on my hand quilting progress!!!

Have a blessed Sunday and remember .. no matter what this is ALWAYS true if we look for it!….

As a P. S. I would like to wish my daddy a happy birthday today!

Under my Needles… Success!!!

Ya’ll… I am so excited to share my most recent piecing… I plan to link this to Sunday Stash #54 over HERE so come take a look at what others are linking… all using acquired or stash fabrics 🙂

I wanted to show off how I planned this log cabin using 1 of these jelly rolls (acquired) AND some stash fabrics added in for variety…

Here is a better view of the fabrics in the jelly roll I chose to acquire! lol

And here is how mine is looking so far…

I organized my logs randomly within each length and color on this foam board I had laying around the house… and separated the jelly roll as you can see here to get going with this…

I have had LOTS OF FUN (waaaay more than expected for sure) piecing this and am so pleased that my progress is sooo much like my vision for it was.. in fact I think it looks cooler than expected…

Now my honey wants to rearrange a few of the blocks yet still keep this design… then I will add a pieced border followed by a wide border of some cool vintage fabric I found… for the pieced border I saved some of the jellyroll strips that had repeats in neutral black and red for my inner border… not sure yet how that is gonna work out! lol

This has been a fun project so far and I like that my family is getting involved too!

Under my hand quilting needle has been this!!!

And below is a close up of the border… on the right side of the pic above…

Success!!!!  Now it was time to move the quilt in the frame… now my view is fresh and when I finish this frame full…

I will be 25% completed with this quilt!!!!!

Before I close… look at our new cozy kitchen table with a nice lamp overhanging it now… 

This is becoming a favored spot by ALL in our home 🙂

Hope you have a blessed week and remember….

~ Blessed Easter Sunday ~

I hope whatever you are doing today brings you great joy my bloggy friends…

This week my finger has healed to the point I can quilt again without depending on the thimble for every single stitch…

And I completely finished the second star wheel on this quilt!!!!

See the close up of the swirls in the outer border I am doing as I come to them…

I am really enjoying the variety of theads and stitching I am doing on this quilt 🙂  My daughter… the recipient when it is done… is LOVING the pops of red that I am putting on the stars and outer border also!  But she also says she is enjoying all the stitches and will try some straight stitches in this quilt if I insist… well guess what… I will insist that she put a few stitches in… this is her forever quilt and I want her to cherish her stitches !!!  Like she cherishes mine 🙂

And this is my view this morning!

I am happily and busily working on the 3rd block now 😀

While my finger was healing… I focused on the log cabin quilt I am making ….

Once I finish the last 4 blocks … I will let my honey arrange them in this pattern until he is happy with it… this wall hanging will ultimately hang in our living room.. so I want us to BOTH be happy! lol

Here is my Resurrection Sunday flower in the Mickey vase…

I hope you each have a blessed Sunday… as for me I will be slow stitching the day away … because of this I want to link up with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching Linky HERE!!!  Come see what other’s are sharing there today 🙂

Until my next post remember…

Wild and Crazy Weekend!

Sew excited to share with you all today 🙂

I have completed several of the red and neutral log cabin blocks and this is my design wall currently…

 Isn’t this turning out cool!!!!

Here was the colorway of the pattern…

And here was my coloring over it with Paint program…

Here is the jelly roll I used called “In Stitches” by Maywood Studios…

My inner border is a continuation of the quilt pattern in a larger strip size than used in the logs… My outer border will be some 1930’s vintage fabric I recently found on eBay… I set the colors with salt and vinegar soak then hand washed it… no bleeding!!! Yippee 🙂

 Above it is a bit rainy out so my honey set up a makeshift clothesline in our Florida room 🙂  The Florida breezes had it dry in no time too!

Here is a close up of the pattern…

This fabric is 35″ wide selvage to selvage and I got 2 yards for under $20 in 1 piece.. this is almost an unheard of deal I think and will really add to this wall hanging I believe.. 🙂

Meanwhile…
One the hand quilting front I have not accomplished much over the weekend…  I sustained an injury to my middle finger on my right hand… when my nail broke off into the quick… so I had to quilt only with a thimble for several days as it healed… but this morning I finished the remaining areas like these on this second big block… and am off to add the wheel stitching in 🙂

So I should have some yummy pics in my next post of progress on this project!

This weekend we put our dining table up for sale and it sold within an hour!!!

It was a fine table actually but just didn’t fit our style as it is modern and we are vintage… and it was tall chairs that weren’t as practical… also as large as it was it didn’t lend itself to game playing etc.. that I have fond memories of growing up… so it was time for a change in our home here 😉

We got this one!

A table that comfortably holds 8 chairs.. and look at the chair backs… they are engraved with a cool design..

Here is a view of the table with the leaf in it…

But here is how we decided we wanted it for now…

And here is a better view of how cool the table top looks…

The center of the table holds a very special vase to our family and a circle doily for now.. I will make a centerpiece from a special block Connie appliqued for me.  Here is a close up of the flower in the vase…

for us this represents what this week is about in our christian history.. the death of Jesus.

Never fear though.. I have a white one waiting to replace it next week as He will be Risen!

Here is a shot of the adjoining area where we have a secretary…

From this angle light was NOT my friend… but you can see how well the chairs of the table coordinate with the color of the secretary…  Here is a better shot of the top of the secretary…

And if you didn’t catch the close up of the vase… it has a Mickey Mouse engraved into the swirls… we also have magician Mickey Mouse on our secretary 🙂 lol!

See!

So that is all we have been up to around here.. coming up will start the remodeling of our kitchen and adding a proper bar to the ledge there… Watch my honey’s skills in that department… as I continue to sew and create for our home and for friends and family!

Have a blessed day ya’ll and remember…

Spiral Log Cabin ~ Piecing Progress :)

Happy Friday Folks!!!!

Check out my Design Wall today 🙂  I am sooo excited!

Last Friday I shared that I was gonna start my first log cabin quilt… a Spiral Log Cabin Wall Hanging is how it will finish.. it is for our living room focal wall as you enter our home 😀

So how did I accomplish this with just this at my disposal?

First I found a piece of foam board that was holding a puzzle we have yet to make a frame for and found a new place to store the puzzle… I made sticky notes for each size of log I needed to make and I even used different colored sticky notes for dark versus neutral logs…

but truly the different colours weren’t really necessary! lol  Oh well … made it more interesting a task anyway in the prep work!

Then I separated my jellyroll… I only used 1… sold the second one within 1 hour of advertising it too!  Yippee 🙂

It is important with a Log Cabin pattern.. because you are sewing so many small pieces together to make a square unwonky block to make your fabric as unstretchy as possible… I was using a jelly roll which is WIDTH of fabric cuts… when a log cabin is recommended for LENGTH of fabric cuts that do not stretch at all…  So I used Best Press…

My method was to best press all the jelly roll strips just prior to cutting them into logs… I spritzed the Best Press on each fabric piece and let it rest for a bit…then ironed it dry and it was quite crisp… made it easy to cut and easy to sew!

Here are my first 4 log cabin blocks up close…

And the 4 I just finished this morning…

I liked this second grouping best as it seemed more scrappy to set the tone for the scrappiness I desired for this wall hanging to be! 🙂  So the pic at the top is probably the final placement on all the blacks in my pattern…

Now this next week I will focus on cutting enough red (the neutral logs are ALL cut) logs to make 16 red and neutral blocks!  Yay 😉

I want to send a special thanks to Wendy for gifting me this book by Judy Martin…

also included in the photo is a little book I got myself by Sharyn Craig… both are very ingenious quilters and these books hold many patterns but more important together they hold the secrets that really are making this log cabin quilt successful!

Linking this post to Sarah’s Whoop whoop Friday Linky Party HERE <<

In the meantime … I have made it 2/3 of the way through quilting my second Carpenter’s Wheel block on Brandi’s Graduation quilt.  Here is a close up!

 Can you see the red big stitching around the star pieced diamonds??

I am really enjoying the diversity in these 2 projects currently.

How many projects are you CURRENTLY working on?  I like 2 I think.. as I dream of more to come… I try to keep track of where I am in each.. I have more WIP;s… but currently working on projects.. 1 piecing and 1 hand quilting is good for me 🙂

Also, I got to keep my grandson CJ yesterday…

he will be 2 years old in June!

Isn’t he a cutie with his silly face on… trying to grin at me! lol

Have a blessed weekend and remember that…