Hand Quilting the Weekend Away :)

If you are Canadian I wish you a Blessed Thanksgiving weekend… I am linking up with my Canadian friend Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching today HERE!
 
Friday was a busy day but I did pick up my needle and thread again on the Byrum Family Quilt and haven’t looked back… Okay a little house work… sheets washed.. taxi service for my dd who is now on a little vaca with friends btw 🙂  So all that stuff… but mainly I have been HAND QUILTING!!!

This is the start of the outer sections of this quilt… so I had to figure out where to start… and this cute patriotic cow with adjoining patriotic blocks just asked to go first 🙂

So first I focused on stitching in the ditch on the patriotic square in a squares… soon I was working on the in the ditch and decorative stitching on the bear claw block too!

Then it was done by evening last night!  Wow 🙂

 

So where do I go next???

The mirror image of course… you see I made 2 of each star block… one on each side of the quilt… the pics of the one above shows the cow facing right as it is on the LEFT side of the quilt… here is the mirror image block on the RIGHT side of the quilt and my focus today are these 2 blocks 🙂

This is really helping me reach my goals set for this month.

Do you set goals to chart progress on your crafting?  Come and join us in just 2 weeks for a Linky Party just for goal setting… all areas of your life or just your crafty side.. with gentle monthly goals you will see your UFO pile shrink and you will feel more accomplished by sharing your successes .. and misses too!  So if you blog come on over .. also a chance to win LINKY LOOT just for linking! 🙂

Have a wonderful Sunday is my prayer for each of you!

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Whooping on a Friday!

Finally Friday… I am so happy I have something to Whoop about today 🙂  I am sharing this post over at Sarah’s where she loves to Whoop on a Friday all the crafty accomplishments of the week… come join us and link up too!  She is showing off a cute cross stitch today too!

After finishing all the hand quilting bits of stitching that were needed to make the middle of this quilt complete…

The Byrum Family Quilt has reached over 50% complete and I took a 2 day break to rest my fingers 🙂

So what does a hand quilter do when resting fingers??? Well prep the next thing for stitching of course! lol  I have attempted hand piecing and some went fine and some not so fine.. so I prefer to piece vintage on Gloria 🙂  She is my Singer 301A i a beautiful trapezoid cabinet!

So Gloria and I had a date yesterday and I made 3 more of these stars for a wall hanging I am creating from a pattern called Wish Upon a Star…

Once trimmed they should measure 10 1/2″ before sewing 🙂

So I am happy to Whoop about this progress toward meeting my monthly goals 🙂

Do you set monthly goals too??? I have a linky in just 2 weeks to show off all you have done and preview what you plan to do.. check it out on my blog in just 2 weeks!

Until then… Happy Stitching and…

Heavenly Days… I did it!

I reached a HUGE accomplishment… I am now over 50% done with the Byrum Family Quilt!!!

I tried to capture a little texture here… but I thought you might also want a perspective shot…

Red Outline shows where I have quilted too so far 🙂

So I figure with this much done I am over 50% done with the quilting on this beautiful day in October… on the down hill slide now.

While I had fun with my photo shoot on this BIG! quilt… I also pondered binding… I am going for a rich brown with black swirlies on it that is perfect for a nice binding to this quilt… will add another rich layer and a place to rest your eyes as this is a busy quilt! lol

Here is a close up once I finished some bits on the very center panel…

Not sure if you can see but I came back and added some texture to the grass below the tree and outlined the big hearts in the tree top 🙂  I think it adds more texture to those areas that was needed and will also not hurt it from holding up longer with a bit more stitching there…

I am quilting this quilt very utilitarian as I want it to have a long life of family snuggles, up n downs, tears and laughs and illnesses… I want this quilt to be ready for the long life it has ahead 🙂

Do you think about durability of your quilt as you choose your quilting design?  This is only something I have recently pondered more than earlier in my quilting career.

Check out this cute fabric that makes the cornerstones of the middle border… 

Can you see my quilting design.. I traced a template shape there in the diamond and added the loops with my chalk!  I had fun adding the loops 🙂

Well hope you enjoyed seeing what has been keeping me from being more bloggy.

Things are better overall but I still would like to remain on your prayer list.  I do appreciate it friends.

Now I am off to cut out some stars to sew on Gloria!

Happy Hump Day!

Happy October :)

Fall is in the air here on Florida’s East Coast 🙂

Here is a pic I posted to facebook today!

I have been busily stitching on the Byrum Family Quilt… I am still loving this project.. and the other day my brother had a minute and called and we chatted.. they are excited to get this quilt and I am just happy to reach the actual 50% mark on this quilt… which should happen in the next week or so…

Until I reach the 50% mark on this quilting artistry I will not take any machine piecing breaks on the stars.. but I still think I will finish those cute stars before the next LINKY PARTY!!

 Check out my sidebar for dates on the next party…

My sewing time has been stupendous lately as I am motivated and have been listening to tunes a lot! lol

I did try to watch a Netflix movie but it was terrible… I was never good at picking movies anyway… I just happen upon the one’s I like usually! lol  Do you have a Netflix suggestion for me??

Thanks for any ideas you have… and if you live in the Northern Hemisphere….  Happy Fall Ya’ll!

Happy Dancin’ :P

Yep, I am definitely Happy Dancin’!  The linky party was a success and I quilted all weekend long on the Byrum Family Quilt and made great progress… first our LUCKY LINKER!!

Carla submitted this concise blog post and because she took the time to do that Linky Loot is now in route to her home 🙂

Don’t miss Octobers Laundry List LINKY PARTY…

 As I enjoyed reading each post I hand quilted a good bit this weekend and this is the midpoint of this border now…

The pink lines are chalk I have used with a stencil and the right side is done and cleaned off… Once I finish this side of the middle border completely I will also spray water on the remaining bits of chalk to make sure none stays around to stain the quilt 😉

I should finish this section by the weekend I am thinking… but we shall see as life does Happen! lol

Sunday Stitching!

I just love Sundays… a day to have no real plan and just see what happens… ahhh!

Today when I woke up I decided to work on my hand quilting on the middle border of my current project the Byrum Family Quilt.  The red outlines the border I am on now..

And here is a close up of this fun fabric I am stitching on…

Can you see my chalk lines… I had the template and ordered the chalk.  It came in yesterday.. just in time for me to use it! lol

I enjoy marking with chalk as it fades as you stitch and any residual you can spritz with water to remove completely before the first wash!

I had white and this is my first adventure with pink… it looks neon pink in the bag.. but as you can see comes out as a light pink on the fabric… here is a closer look at the chalk markings and my “support stitching” done in the ditch and 1/4″ in as well…

Because I plan to spend most of the day quilting these fun wavey lines… I also will link up to Kathy’s Slow Sunday stitching HERE!

But I am also doing a little work with Gloria today… I have yet to use her since her big reveal in yesterday’s post!

This morning I set aside the hand stitching and cut out a star!

And now here it is!!

Yippee!  That is now 2 stars done out of 12 needed 🙂

I can do this multi tasking now that my Gloria has a permanent home… even though she is easily removed… it is her place to be when I am here 🙂

So what are you up to on this Sunday.. hustling about or enjoying the calm before the holiday storms to come? 🙂  Get yourself organized for those upcoming holiday projects and join me here NEXT WEEKEND to share a blog post via linky and List.. Link… and Party!  Laundry List Linky is NEXT WEEKEND ya’ll!

And as always.. LINKY LOOT is gonna be available to one Lucky Linker!!!

See ya on Friday… till then Happy Stitching and…

It is a Fabulous Friday ya’ll!

Hope you are having a Fabulous Friday too!

I have made great progress on the BFQ (Byrum Family Quilt) and am now to the middle border on it.. the mosaic section is in the books as finished! 

Yep, all that section inside the red arrows is now finished… I have to go back and fill in the teal blue squares but my filler for them is in the mail… it is a stencil I got with different filler designs I liked for this quilt…

 The entire quilt is much larger than that pic… here is a pic of the whole quilt for reference…

So once I finish the Middle Border here I will be 50% complete with the quilting on this awesome quilt 🙂  Whoop!!!

Also I had another great thing happen this week… my Gloria (a 1956 301A) got a new dress to wear!

 This is a 301 cabinet made in the 1950’s called a “Singer # 74 cabinet”.  Originally I think they came blonde like this one on the right or darker like the mahogany we used to refinish her with 🙂  The machine here in this pic was not a good machine so we passed on that but found a great deal in the cabinet even if they HAD lost the legs! lol  So on a leg hunt we went!

 And here is my Gloria in her new cabinet … the bronze in the stain matches her bronze tension dial and bronze link around her badge.. I just adore her even more in her new home 🙂  And because we are savvy and thrifty shoppers we only have about $100 invested in the cabinet!  Whoop 🙂

She will be cured and ready for sewing THIS WEEKEND!! YIPPEE 🙂

So yes… I am having a Fabulous Friday… and it is just 1 week until it is time for my own linky party!!!

So gets your goals set, blog about them and link them up here next weekend!!!

Linky Loot is fun to win but just making goals makes you a WINNER!  So make your own “laundry list” of goals and join us here next weekend… all weekend long! lol

For now I am linking this Fabulous Friday post and all my whooping to Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict Whoop Whoop!  Here 🙂

Making headway on BFQ :)

I am happy to report the Byrum Family Quilt (BFQ) is moving right along!

I have more than this section complete now!

I have more than this much done too!

Here is the “mosaic section” I am working on enclosed by arrows 🙂

And remember this pic was taken during he piecing portion.. this quilt is much larger than this now… but I wanted to show you a good picture of the central portion I am working on 🙂

Here is a side view of the mosaic area…

I was trying to figure out what to put in these starry teal squares… hmmm… then I found these with cheap shipping so I ordered these!

And here is a cool shot of just the 5 beatitudes I have quilted on this quilt… with 5 more to go before the mosaic section is done..

Hope you are enjoying the quilting as much as I am.. now time to get back to it! lol

Happy Stitching and

Around the World Blog Hop… Quilty Pleasures :)

I am so excited to share with you that I got nominated for the Around the World Blog Hop!!!  I am subtitling mine … Quilty Pleasures 🙂

A very special thanks to Kymberly Pease of Peas in a Pod Creations blog for nominating me in THIS post 🙂  Kymberly is a great quilter and does many other crafts too!  I even won a cute little pouch I use for a bag on her blog 🙂 I was so excited to get nominated by her!

So are you ready to get to know my crafty side better ?? lol

What do you excel at?

Hand quilting is my major and quilt designing is my minor.  I love having needle and thread in my hands… so much that it has driven me to learn to better piece my projects to hand quilt!!!  I had to recruit help to improve my piecing as I don’t have a local teacher I trust… and my friend Wendy who blogs here has become my piecing mentor!  She lives in Australia, I live on Florida’s east coast in the US… we communicate via fb chat and with LOTS and LOTS of pictures … but with my perseverance and her diagnosing skills I am improving my piecing by leaps and bounds…

What is your current project?

This is what I recently finished piecing and am hand quilting now…

I designed this flimsy and the backing using fabrics I collected over a years time. I focus on the recipients when I plan/design/make a quilt… this one is just very personalized to the recipients… my brother and his family of 6!

This is a large queen quilt at 94″ square and is the largest quilt I have pieced and made thus far.  I am very proud of these flimsies 🙂  I have called this a 2 flimsy quilt in a previous post! lol

How does my work differ from other quilters?

To properly answer this you much know more of my crafty history…. I started needle work very young under my grandmother’s tutelage… I was never taught to use a hoop or to somehow stabilize my work so I learned to do it without naturally.

Fast forward to today… I don’t use a hoop or frame of any kind… I make nice even stitches this way too with no excess or loose tension noted in my finished work… and I don’t use a thimble but use “udder ointment” each night/morning on my hands and when they get sore with too much hand quilting I will use a bit of tape on my fingertips… works wonderful and is very affordable! 🙂
<<<< Here is how I work out in my "Florida Room" … I have soft tunes, water fountains and nature all around me while I quilt! LOVE IT!!!!

Why do I quilt what I do?

I feel very driven to make quilts for those around me… I have yet to sell any work but have given some away! 🙂

I also believe quilts talk to me and will tell me how they want to live quilted for their lives.. lol!  So I try to listen to the quilt and the design and let the design/piecing/quilting all complement each other!

How does my creative process work?

Every quilting adventure is different… for the quilt I am currently working on I collected religious and otherwise meaningful fabrics based on the colors my sil wanted in this quilt… blues and beiges.
I found the centerpiece amidst the fabric buying and that decided that this would be a medallion style quilt… but I wanted more meat to the design and instead of just adding interesting borders I added layers of their life memories and their family important moments in this quilt… it was a my fave designing process yet on a quilt!  And again, I had Wendy’s help to get this level of intricate designing complete… but I did all the final designing!!  Yippee 🙂

The real fun was having that center fabric when my brother and his family stopped in for a visit while in Florida (they live in Tennessee where I am also from).  I had prepared for their visit getting a few little things for my nieces and nephew and found fabric paint… we painted hearts down the center of the tree making this even more special and personalized!  I embroidered by hand all their initials down the tree before the quilting started too!   Awwww 🙂

I am linking up this ending to a great Blog Hop ( it started in 2008 with writers first… thus mine is a quilty edition! lol) to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching HERE… I love hanging out there and plan to hand quilt my weekend away.

Hope you have enjoyed getting to know me and the Byrum Family Quilt better!

Don’t forget about MY LINKY PARTY coming up at the end of this month… info is on my right sidebar 🙂  Just make a blog post of your met goals and upcoming goals to meet.. link up here September 26, 27 or 28 and get a chance to win LINKY LOOT!

BFQ Update… on a Rainy Sunday :)

BFQ is the Byrum Family Quilt 🙂

I have been working on it steadily since my last post and stitched most every day.. I am now doing what I have called the “mosaic section”….

The area surrounding that inner border I just finished and inside the nautical border here on the outside as this was a pic I took once the center of the quilt was assembled 🙂

I decided to start at the top and have fun with this 🙂 

Here is one of the “beatitude” blocks I have quilted from the top section…

The actual “beatitudes” go down each side of the center section…

The fabric I cut those from had lots of alternate designs too … so I chose some for the top and bottom to even it out and make this the mosaic section! lol

I will be quilting away on this today … what are you up to and what is your weather like?

Have a blessed Sunday my crafty friends!

Linking this Rainy Sunday update to other slow stitchers over at Kathy’s Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching HERE!