Swooning with Progress Here!!!

Happy Sunday my friends !  Here is where I have spending some of my morning…

This little bistro porch set is my fave hangout spot on our newly claimed “Porch Space”… My honey brought out a shepherds hook to hold a fern we bought and we added the daisy our neighbor had gifted us as decor to the table too… Totally delightful!!!

And here is my view from the chairs back to the house…

Do you have a favorite spot around your home?  I would love to hear about it in the comments below or email me directly HERE with a photo of your own!!!

Well… it has been a very busy week around here… not as much quilty progress as I had hoped BUT….

 The above end was done on Connie’s Swoon Quilt… then the below end got finished AND…. drum roll…

 I rolled the quilt!!!  YAY!!! (But not sure why I couldn’t get a clearer shot from my phone camera!!)

Now today I have been barely able to pull myself away from slow stitching to write this post to share with y’all… Swooning for Sure !!!!

 Here is a close up view of the quilty progress since rolling too…

I love this photo!!!! (ambient light only from outside … no interior lights on for this shot) << Thanks Gretchen for the intell on how to take good photos of quilted areas 😀

And lest I forget my thimbles… the green Clover thimble is for my thumb and the brass one is for my middle finger so I can quilt all the ways around on my frame 🙂

I Love It!!!!

Linking this Hand Quilting Progress to :

Kathy’s Quilts … Slow Sunday Stitching HERE <<<
She is sharing her 7 year anniversary blogging with a giveaway to all that link!!!!  She is also sharing a full photo of a quilt she finished that I have the instructions for… just haven’t started yet… oooh I need to start!!!

and

Wendy’s Quilts and More … Peacock Party HERE <<<
She just got back from a trip to Sydney, Australia… details of her fabric acquisition will follow as I have seen it on Instagram already 😀 

I have had MAJOR cravings for fresh strawberries lately & decided to catch a shot of my breakfast the other day… only later did I realize I eat my strawberries and shortcake with Cool Whip in a bowl decorated wish strawberries too … lol!

 And look what we got this week… a sewing machine Made by the Grant Brothers between 1869 and 1875 … and it WORKS!!!!  The craftsmanship of this sewing machine is AMAZING!!!!!

It sews a chain stitch using the thread from the top to wrap around  underneath in the hook area 🙂  The handle that turns the wheel is a 1950ish replacement .. the original would have been wood.  But we are pleased as punch the rest is original including the tension screws on the thread spool that help it work right!!!

 After a busy week we made time Friday to drive to the Verizon phone store and upgrade my phone… this also let us move my old phone over to my honey for him to get a “new ” working phone as his cell didn’t work well at all!  Now he has time to adjust to it but we are an iPhone household here once again now 😀

I got the iPhone 8 Plus… still lots to learn for sure!!! 

The camera has 2 cameras that work together on it … I did a close up of our flowers we planted in the spring… now look at them under our flag!!!!

 And we had terrible storms Friday night … lots of lightening and thunder… aparently a lot in this region suffered as I talked to my bestie and my daughter that are  4 hours or more away and they had issues too!!!

We had a tree down in our driveway… my honey and a neighbor cleared it though… Thank Goodness for handy friends and my handy honey too!  He got the chain saw working when the neighbor couldn’t !!!  YAY!!!

I have only been in the sewing room this week to iron some shirts for my honey … but do have plans to spend some time in there this week… so come on back and see what else is new… next Sunday 😀

Now don’t forget to leave me a comment or send me one… about your fave spot to hang out in your vicinity!  I look forward to hearing from you 😀

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Progress to share that is THIMBLY fun !

Hey ya’ll!  I am so happy to share with you today!  I am glad you stopped in for a visit as well! 

Each morning this week I have been diligently making 12 pairs of 1 7/8″ squares turn into a stack of 24 hst’s! lol  You see each must also be sliver trimmed to remove dog ears and excess slivers to bring them to 1 1/2″ finished size…

So I made the above pic collage to show just how much fun I was having and be able to share it today! lol  I HOPE YOU KNOW I am … Just Kidding about the FUN!!!  

Now I have 6 piles to share and decided this morning I would take the day off! 

I also added to the “fun” by moving around the pin cushion and scissors I use at my 301a Gloria for daily sewing machine use…

This is the pin cushion I chose and my bestie purchased for me on Etsy for my birthday… and these scissors have larger finger/thumb holes for my arthritic knuckles to get in and out of easier … so I moved these from the quilting frame use to Gloria’s cabinet instead… much easier for me when snipping the HST’s apart! lol

All these HST’s will be the points in the stars in this pattern…

EVENTUALLY I will have 14 stacks and have them all done 🙂

After tidying my sewing room I decided to ponder my fabric stash and see if there was anything I could “de-stash”… I found these 5 fabrics of the many I have that I probably couldn’t do justice with at this point… so I have these listed on eBay now HERE is one! 🙂

But my fave progress to share this week is on my hand quilting frame !!!!  This is where I plan to spend my Sunday too!

Here is my view I woke to and where I started stitching this morning…

 Here is what I finished this past week…

 And yes… to show off the blocks with any detail… it took 2 shots…

So as you can tell above .. I FINALLY got in my order stencils on Thursday and am pleased with my assortment to choose from now 😀  Maybe I will play with the panoramic setting on my phone camera… do you use yours ever?? I never have! lol

Several have asked so I thought I would share…

Here are the needles I use for Perle 12 cotton thread… 
They have quite a selection I saw this week now at Joann’s in store… and in the sewing notions department you can find these quilting betweens by Dritz in an assortment of sizes from 5 to 10.  These have a round eye and are easier to thread perle 12 and in the largest size ~ perle 8 even with these needles… or you can use a different style needle instead… but I like how a between handles with my thimbles…                                                                          So I had gone to Joann’s this week to check where these needles were still located and they are NOT with the quilting supplies but with the sewing notions as I mentioned above… and I got a ball of DMC brand perle 12 cotton ecru that I am using in the charm squares for each shape… my ball is almost gone now… and with coupons I got the needles for FREE basically!!!

Me and my bestie use this handmade version of a thimble… I made a tutorial to share with you how to make one for yourself if you are interested ….

I use the white colored electrical tape found at home improvement stores… because the black leaves a black residue.. whereas the white leaves NO RESIDUE when worn all day even!  This style of handmade thimble will last a good while ( 2 days or more?!) for me even with taking it off and on throughout the day! … but still it takes time to make and then use… so I ordered one I had seen being used in my facebook groups…

And I do really like it!  I got this in a Large size for my big thumb.. the medium wouldn’t go wide and flat but this large shapes to my thumb nicely… there is still a getting used to it phase that we have to adjust to.  But if you were thinking of one of these and on the fence about it… Joann’s sells them in the store I THINK and the box is made so you can try it one in the box!  Very cool design. 

The metal thimble on my middle finger is made by Clover but Dritz makes one similar as well..  It is adjustable but is not available in this large size anywhere I can find yet… maybe once more are using them they will.

So there are 2 ways to outfit your thumb for hand quilting/ hand work 😀  Enjoy it!

While quilting in the early mornings … I like to watch some Netflix on my honey’s iPad… currently that is “Good Witch” with the lovely Catherine Bell playing a lead… it is a Hallmark series and I like those!

 While drinking fresh brewed coffee!

We just got a new basic coffee pot … and a holder for our fave sugar substitute “Stevia”… we are making several lifestyle changes presently and Stevia has been a happy one of those!  So we bought the ceramic container to hold it with ocean shell motifs on it at goodwill for all of .99 cents! lol

Well that is all for now I think.  I look forward to seeing what you are each up to … I am linking this to Kathy’s Quilts today HERE… Hope you stop there for a visit as well!  She has LOTS of FUN going on there too and some interesting links if you wanna see some qayg techniques!!!!

So until my next post with hopefully more progress to show… make time to

Celebration Time is HERE!!!

Ya’ll… I am soooo EXCITED to share with you… this shot!!!

I took this shot this morning and promptly moved the quilt! lol

But it is soooo exciting to NOW be on the downhill slide.. yes it is just 1 week shy of 3 months to get halfway on this quilt but there is a LOT of quilting here! lol  And to be honest this is my passion but life happens to get in the way for even a daily slow stitcher like me!

Linking this great progress to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching Linky HERE!  Today she is sharing some fave tools she is currently using on a project…. so here are some of mine I am using on Starlight.. Starbright!
You will see my needle keeper, hemostats (needle puller) scissors, thimble, and thread (not pictured)! lol

I also wanted to share my personal feedback on a couple thimbles I recently got…

I ordered BOTH thimbles from Walmart.com site to store for FREE shipping from the supplier…  each took about a week to arrive and I picked them up the same day to save trips…

First is the thimble I am already currently using on my upper hand middle finger…

It is made by Clover and is made of brass the packaging says… it is a heavy weight metal thimble that wrapps around your finger.. I tend to quilt using my fingernail so this protects my fingernail and when I want to stab stitch through a tough seam it does the trick without getting bent or anything… or bending out of shape from how I set it for my finger… overall very pleased with this thimble… but it was too long for my thumb!

I do quilt with my thumb also especially since I went to frame quilting… so I was hoping the other brand of thimble that was metal that I would try would work to reshape for my thumb….

The Dritz thimble is a little shorter in length… it also says it is made of brass but is a silver color of metal.  The dimples on this thimble are not as deep as the Clover thimble… and once shaped for my thumb .. no matter what we did to position it … it dug into my thumb cuticle… but even aside from that it just didn’t work on my thumb.. so the search continues… and I try to use my thumb for quilting sparingly for now.. lol!

Here is a shot I took of them in their packaging that they came in…

They were both about $10 each when I purchased them about 2 weeks ago… so not bad on price for either… Overall they are very different though…

So I hope this review of thimbles has been helpful to you in deciding what may or may not work for you but holes in fingernails at the pace I quilt just isn’t an option anymore! Hahaha!

Now one other thimble of sorts I do use almost every time I quilt these days is an UNDERHAND thimble… (Yep I ordered this from Walmart.com too!  (Site to store for FREE shipping in about 10 days time!!!)

It resides on my left (underhand) middle finger)… when I need to feel the needle for some reason I use my pointer fingertip… but this way my underhand doesn’t turn into hamburger meat! lol

Okay so enough about the necessities of letting your hands last for you 🙂

Have a blessed day and thanks for visiting… I continue to stay really busy so keep visiting… I will have more to share soon ya’ll!

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… 

A Thimble Story…

Once upon a time… I decided to try a thimble and a friend gave me a cute little plastic open thimble she had an extra of.. I found I could use it but the open top left it a bit floppy during long use though…

But it let me know a thimble COULD BE an option!!

So I went to JoAnn’s looking for a metal thimble that had an open top like the plastic one did but more sturdy … I like to quilt lots of curves and that is active quilting! lol

No go there but when we got home I did find just what I as after at Walmart online only.. so I ordered it on May 15.  Finally… after calling the shipper and waiting some more it showed up yesterday!!!!

Connecting Threads currently has this on sale under $10!!!!

I immediately had to play with it… and it was a tad large!  Yippee 🙂  I had been concerned my arthritic fingers would play havoc in finding a thimble to even fit like the plastic one had!

The adjustment “wings” were so sturdy once moved it was a breeze for MY HONEY to get it sized to my liking! lol  It is not easy or “floppy” adjustment.   That is why my honey had to use his expertise to help me size it.. I imagine if you don’t have a handy honey you could use pliers which is how he got involved in my quest for a good fit.

Well the fit is excellent… take a look at my first curves with a thimble on 🙂

And here is a backed up view of my last space to quilt until this circle is complete!!!

I am really pleased with this…

Also this flimsy is now backed up to a work in progress as I am adding borders to it I have decided..

And just looking at this pic again reminds me how much better it will be with the border to finish it off 🙂  I am very excited and will start this process as soon as I finish the whole cloth hoop I am on… it will go inside to “rest” and I will find energy in the wall hanging transformation!!!

Stay tuned… and guess who only visited once this week we were sooo busy….

He turns 1 on June 6 so stay tuned to the birthday loot we have for him… Rick is gonna wrap it for me in a box he can play with as the contents are clothes and a book! lol  But it is what he needs!!! 🙂

Well.. I am off to put in some more stitches with my thimble!  Hope you enjoyed this Thimble story! lol  Pun intended! 🙂  Linking up with Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching… as I hope my Sunday is full of hand stitches!!!