Quarantine Continues Here ~ Come make time for a pit stop and a smile!

Check out this cool mural made my an artist in the USA!!!

Can you find this mural in THIS video??? It will open another page to play in 🙂
   >>>This has been a favorite listen by Alicia Keys this week in my house<<<

Feel free to share a fave song YOU HAVE in the comment section below!

This week I worked on LOTS of crocheting… and removing and replacing stitches… here is the one I was working on last week…

 And then one I just finished last night for this weeks work….

 Isn’t that second one nicer?  I am making progress!  All of these will go in the quilt… some will be better than others as this is my learning crochet project….  I am struggling with maintaining consistent tension on the thread coming in and learning how to fudge when stitch counts are off… etc.

Here is my black I will be crocheting today….

I want to link this hand moving and brain working activity to my friends 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,  Bella, Daisy, Connie and Monica

And I want to link to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching which is my favorite Sunday blog stop and a time I catch up with all my stitching friends >>>> RIGHT HERE gets you there !!!!

I mailed off a bunch of masks to my previous boss this week and gave another bunch to our local grocery store!  I have handed them out for free to all those we come in contact with regularly for private or professional use to protect themselves too…

 Finally yesterday afternoon I pulled out some flying geese on a new project I had cut several weeks back and pieced mindlessly as I enjoyed that Alicia Keys song again! lol  Did you listen to it yet and take in the thanks to all those on the front lines… ALL those???!!!

We have really been enjoying watching a robin family that has occupied our train engine birdhouse my honey built last year… and this hummingbird feeds a family  somewhere in the front yard… 

 We make our own hummingbird food from sugar boiled in water … you can find out on the internet  but DO NOT use the red colored food… that red coloring makes it hard for them to reproduce successfully.

ALERT!!!!   We want an outside camera with great picture taking ability we can watch on our pad or phones in real time or record to take still shots from… anyone have ideas on this kind of camera and where to look for something like that… I looked at Go Pro’s .. but those are too over the top I think and a trail cam is too low end… I can’t find something that is good right in the middle of those.

We got in some LED lights we ordered for the lights shining down from our microwave onto the stove top…

 and it was like saying… “Let there be Light!”  We got the cool white color and it is nice and bright!

I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies my honey and I devoured ….

 Fell in love with this idea I saw on facebook…

 Wished I could visit my hairdresser… we are closed at least until May 8 here in North Carolina though… how about wherever you live???

 I have this pattern in my “to be started soon” pile…

 And seeing this one made me wish I could work on it… didn’t this maker do a great job… this is 14 x 17 1/2″ about!

This yesterday when perusing Facebook I saw this gem… enlarge the photo if you like but the quilting is spectacular and those stars are string pieced Bonnie Hunter style….

 THIS though was the laugh of the week… would you do this to your special someone????

Thanks for visiting with me here virtually … where we are all Covid 19 free in this arena…. Take care all my virtual friends ❤  I hope this post has brought you a smile along the way!

Advertisement

Making it through the Pandemic of 2020 with Crochet!

Happy Sunday Y’all!

I found this cool saying for us to think of as we are trudging though this Pandemic 🙂

What story are you living … can you find joy there somehow some way???

I know sooo many had plans for this spring… vacation. weddings.. etc and now it seems we are stuck in this long lasting Pandemic across the world.

I have been crocheting on my crochet quilt this week…

 I did finish up all the machine quilting in the center of each of the 39 squares… I now have 4 crocheted around and am working on number 5!

 1st round….

 Second Round…

This is the point I stopped at last evening… I will be linking this very slow stitching progress to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching Linky Post HERE <<<  Come see what other amazing slow stitching others are sharing too 🙂

I have also been making more masks this week… with some spilling into the coming week that I just didn’t get finished yet….

I did trim my hair this week.. it was so long on top… so I just did the front… I cut my honey’s hair (I always have cut his hair so this wasn’t as crazy as me trimming off my own! lol

While sewing masks I won 2 different colors of thread on bobbin chicken when changing bobbin colors…

 Last week I shared the binding I was working on for Jannessa… it got done last Sunday and is ready to deliver back to her for her wash and gift her daughter when the time is near for the baby to come.

 Sweet Elliana enjoyed Easter festivities at her home… her mom sent me these photos…

So as we continue to trudge though this pandemic called Covid-19 the Corona virus… Stay safe… Stay Home… and follow this Prescription I found online also …

Have a blessed week and thanks for visiting!

Easter Blessings ~ Quarantine 2020!

Happy Resurrection Sunday Y’all!

As we continue to Quarantine to avoid this hateful virus sweeping all areas of our country and even has or will be to every point in the world I think!  How horrible but true!

I am learning to adapt to this as I learned to adapt to being retired and finally gave up fighting urges to return and took up quilting back then… now I am taking up mask figuring and my days are just generally restructuring a bit… ok a LOT! … not as much shows on my bullet journaling…

But Y’all … I stay busy all day every day now… just not so much quilting and crafting I guess… and sleep comes easy from 8 pm to 4 am then I am up and my day has begun!

I sure hope our world will heal real soon too ❤  Feel free to use this meme I scarfed on facebook 🙂

We have started shopping early in the mornings and trying to do our errands before lots of others are out and about… well last week we came home early one morning to find a visitor in our pond…

A duck swimming across the pond until we started him… in front of our neighbor’s cabin…  Picturesque view she has up there!!!

Molly has been quite the entertainer lately…

 She “claimed” this stick when we were doing the spring clean up a couple weeks back on the golf cart….

 Well she still has it … and that tulip behind her in the picture below…

Now that tulip sits in a cute little glass jar my bestie gave me from her collection…. So she is near during this lonely time too!

I have great company in my honey and Molly and facetime with Jannessa rocks!  Don’t get me wrong I am BLESSED on this resurrection day ….

I just wish I could hug Jannessa… spend time with Connie on her vacation week coming up… those kind of things… plan a visit to see some of my kids… like all of us… instead I am staying home 99% of the time and finding nuggets of happiness on social media and listening to audio books again!!!

Look at this cute little quilt I found in our toy sewing machine group that a member made… it is appliqued from a drawing she made… It is great detail and she definitely has skills I don’t! lol

But I do have some mask making skills…. I made several masks this week for friends and neighbors… some even got mailed, received, and there are more to be made… I have a quick and easy way to make my masks that are 3 layers of fabric a bit of elastic and a few bread ties!  I made a tutorial HERE this past week showing lots of photos of how I make my masks 🙂

 My honey even put on the mask I made for him and his thick beard…. nice cover up here….  Then he told me to wait a minute.  When her returned this was his response….

Here is hoping me and my honey’s shenanigans have boosted your spirits today!!!!

I include a printed note with my masks… people need to know that they need to HEAT them up to sanitize them properly in their clothes dryer ….  Here is another type of print out you can grab … it came from Bonnie Hunter’s facebook group “Quiltville”….

 Here is my favorite make yet….

My hair needs a trim… please don’t comment on THAT ! lol

Then I uncovered Cleopatra later on in the week and started marking and sewing quilt blocks I have been prepping with the template I made…. 

 I love how it turned out.. I was afraid it didn’t look above like enough quilting… but machine quilting these with 28 wt Aurifil top and bobbin for even finish on both sides….

 And I have 15 of those 39 that I have here quilted now by just sitting down here and there 🙂

 My main focus this week has been hand stitching down the binding on this baby quilt for Jannessa’s grand baby boy to be.  She has 2 coming within a month of each other from both her girls!!!  So I signed up to do the binding on this rounded corner quilt…

 By making that bias binding I shared last week… it really has stitched on great !!!  I am praising God for the blessing of being able to do hand work during such a time as this!

Linking this progress to my favorite Sunday blog stop >>> Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching <<<
I will be finishing the binding on this quilt today… Jannessa and I are working out a between a glass door meeting for later in the week.  YIPPEE!!!!!

For you homeschooling parents that need ideas…  Think about Appalachian roots and build a still! lol

 Or see if you can find a plastic spider or bug and try this out….

One of my favorite songs to sing on this day…

Have a blessed week ahead as we continue to adjust and continue to Stay Home to Slow the Spread here in the USA… what are you doing (or have you done) to Slow the Spread???  Keep all those infected and symptomatic in your thoughts for strength to endure and overcome this illness!  I especially am feeling a urge to pray for Boris Johnson of the UK.  Is there anyone you are especially thinking of during this time in our world???!

…. And then it was April 2020 – Fun while Staying Home

Hello and Welcome to my Blog this fine April weekend!  I hope this post finds you at peace as you Stay at Home !!!

I have thought of each of you that visit my blog this week.  I know many read that don’t leave comments too… sew I try to think of about all of you that may need a break from the clamor of the tv and reading a blog post can transport you away from this world wide pandemic..

Come on let’s see what photos I took for you this week!

Last Sunday was all hand work… cutting and marking the wrong side of fabric hand work though! lol

But at the end of that day the Shelbyville/Lancaster Quilt was complete….

I have ALL those pieces cut and am ready to sew together some flying geese even!  YAY 😀

I have a circle formed around my 301 ~ Julius ~ so I sat down here Monday morning and started some piecing of flying geese!

And by circle… LOOK!

The above photo was actually made when I was cutting but it is still similar to this set up… chair in the center and a table Jannessa left over here on the right side of the top of the photo… some placemats are there on the design wall waiting to be quilted… some day! lol  and I have 10″ squares of fabric everywhere else but I have 2 ironing surfaces.. 1 of which I have a smaller pink cutting mat on.  This is an environment I thrive in…

How about you??

Do you create in a clean or messy area ??

I like to start a project with a clean room and as I finish projects I try to put them all up but y’all don’t wanna see the far end of my cutting table right now!  I need a straightening day I think! LOL  REALLY!  This may make a bullet journal spot even for the coming week!!!!

Oh that last photo … if you look under Jannessa’s table you will see the parts and pattern for the briefcase Jannessa and I can make via Facetime… but we haven’t slated when it will start yet… 

Speaking of which… this is what took over the end of my week…

 Above I am making bias binding with a bias tool I ordered moons ago from MSQC… Jenny has a wonderful video making bias binding sew easy!

Once I got the bias binding made and folding in half and ironed I sat down at my non-messy 319w ~ Cleopatra ~ and strapped on a walking foot for a nice finish and sewed the binding on a rounded corner quilt for a grand baby on the way for Jannessa.  She is binding one for her other grandchild coming… I am binding this one… we are splitting the chores 😀

 Here I am being silly with hair way too long to show! lol

 Once I got it all one time to clip it down.  I rotate 8 wonder clips myself… Jannessa likes to pin her whole quilt at one time… how do you bind a quilt ???

 Here I am at the second corner ….

And that will be my slow stitching today.  I will be working on ladder stitching this binding down to make a nice finish for this little 53″ square – ish quilt for a baby boy yet to be named… in fact neither of her grandsons have a name for sure yet… so labels will wait until parents can quit being fickle…. lol!  It is the last one for each family too… so give them space to decide I say! hahaha

I am linking this hand stitching finish to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching HERE <<<

For my HQAL sisters I am linking a finish of HALF of the blocks below for the Crochet Fusion Quilt….

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, Kathi,  Bella, Daisy and Connie

This is an exciting time for me with this project…  You can see above in the photo some have crochet surrounding them … well after I do a bit of quilting in the center of each block I will be crocheting the rest to match.  Then when they are all ready to lay out and stitch together will I start this same process on 40 more blocks already cut and waiting to get this far!   I am very serious about making this fusion quilt a reality to enjoy for years to come!

Here is the template I made for marking the stitching lines… the stitching on these will be the same color as the crochet thread… the quilting will be done by machine so not working on this today but later in the week….

 Here is a Coraline doll my bff Jannessa made from scratch for her granddaughter who is 10 now I think…

 She is posed with a sweet little pin cushion Jannessa fashioned for ME!!!  Next time we see each other I should get it 😀

Now here is a completed block below left and my template… made to trace outside the square and inside the diamond for 2 stitching lines in 28 wt aurifil thread on top and bobbin….

What do you think?  Others say those 2 lines of stitching will be enough to hold it together for washings, etc…

If you like this kind of hand embroidery… check out THIS website… right now for a limited time this pattern is free and many are unique… support small businesses when you can ya know!!!

Here is Molly posing for me as she watches for her daddy out the window in his shop.

 And here she is asking to go out and “check” on him ! lol

 He put up the hummingbird feeder as we learn what time of year to start feeding for them here…

And please know… if you feel lonely right now… reach out to someone in your inner circle of friends/ family.  I am blessed to have my honey and our pup during this time.

Please feel free to reach out to me on facebook or here via message below if you would like to converse via text or call or video chat.

Just please… wherever you live… keep on keeping on to whatever your government and area is mentioning to do!  For me it is staying home as much as possible…. so we are!  I would LOVE to make new close friends during this time though so please feel free to reach out to me if you need someone new to chat with 😀

Take care… thanks for visiting… and may God bless YOU!

Lots of Handee Work but NO Quilting Here

Welcome Y’all! 

As we isolate in our home place Daisy Meadows this week… I welcome you from North Carolina USA 🙂  I hope my blog post will bring you diversion to what is happening in our world as we learn to live apart.  We are over our sinus infections I am happy to report and we have had a busy week!
I made masks for me and my honey and Jannessa and her hubby.  My bestie Connie kicked off the fun by making 24 for her and her coworkers to use over their masks at work to prolong their life.
Did you know I was a RN in a previous life?  I worked with critically ill kids mainly … cardiac was my joy and teaching was fun too ❤  Now I am a stitcher…

but Hand Quilting is not setting well with me this week so I did other HANDee projects…. and I have found a bit of whimsical fun finishing on the internet too… Facebook specifically 😀

To the left is a sweet lady that finished quilts for twins due in April!  Aren’t they cute!!!!

And check out this border quilting Y’all!!!!  >>>> INSPIRING for sure!!!!

So I decided it was time to cut into the layer cakes and start making some flying geese bodies for the Shelbyville ~ Lancaster Quilt …

There is a LOT of cutting in making over 288 flying geese bodies y’all!!!!

So here is the corner of my sewing room I am hanging out in…

 I have the window open to hear the river running down the side of our yard… and to hear mother nature in the form of birds and squirrels and such… I have music playing on my little Bose speaker from my cell phone app for Pandora… and I am waiting for a friend to go live on facebook so I can have some conversation virtually… have you tried this yet???

Here is a look at my flying geese bodies and pairs and pairs of wings too… waiting to be stitched all together…

 Above you will also see the masks I made for Jannessa and her husband!  Whenever I can get these to her 🙂

Below I am marking lines on the back of squares for snowball blocks for this same quilt… oh my!  Sew much cutting is happening here!!!

 I made a bag for the washer and dryer for our cpap straps.  Both my honey and I use CPAP machines when we sleep for apnea… those straps need a good wash every so often so I made a mesh bag thanks to a stash of mesh from my friend Jannessa 😀

 I am on the last block that I have prepped on the button hole stitching… this is another HANDY project…

Linking all this Hand-ee-ness to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching HERE…. no fast sewing happening here!  Comfort is her word of the day!!!

And I kept up with my bullet journal this week!  YAY 🙂

 Now to draw out this weeks grid!!! lol

Look at this 1870 Grant Brothers Sewing Machine we sold this week!  I will miss it …

 Here is a sweet pic of my dd… darling daughter… she sent me… I miss her!  She has her life in Kentucky these days though!

A life without a work day is hard to become used to… you must create routines for yourself and hold yourself accountable.  Bullet journaling helps me focus my creative time but you can use it for anything!!! 

I hope to finish all the cutting for the Shelbyville-Lancaster Quilt top… Jannessa and I are to chat about when we will start our briefcase building this week so I will know better then as we are doing it virtually on FaceTime I think!  I want to quilt and prep for crochet all 40 fusion quilt blocks and spend time with my honey and our pooch enjoying life… 

What are your goals for this upcoming week?  Please share! Did you know Bluprint is running a free 2 week trial until April 9??  Go to Bluprint dot com and check out the free classes and see if it is your cup of tea this week 😀

Have a blessed week and thanks for visiting with me 🙂  I pray you feel uplifted from your visit!

Staying At Home in North Carolina ~ Happy Progress this Week!

As me and my honey heal from a sinus infection we got as spring enters our area… we are also practicing quarantining ourselves as our part in this global pandemic we find ourselves in… 

I spend time daily remembering all I have to be grateful for in this world!

As a quilter and specifically a hand quilter and lover of sew many crafts… I am having a blast NOT leaving home…
I am keeping track of quilting and crafting I accomplish in my bullet journal and when I lose track of where I was… I only have to look at this journal which lays open in half as pictured below to keep my train of though and craftiness high and the news intake limited to our President’s updates and a quick run through other news outlets for balance.

I am really happy with this layout on my bullet journal….

With the above layout each day a similar block to write in and future projects I may need to ponder are right there too.. this is my weekly spread now 😀  Yes… you can keep track of sew many things… but I needed something to organize all my works in progress and planned works.  This does that for me.  Maybe this quarantine time is time to pull out an unused notebook or take some leaf paper and make your own self a bullet journal for what YOUR needs are!

We have been enjoying spring like weather since Spring Sprang on the 19th… Alas I woke up this morning chilled and temps in the 40’s so the heat came back on but for the last few days we have enjoyed open windows and doors!  We have screens in all of them and fresh air was an amazing stress cleansing agent too!!!  So in the meantime we took a drive about and my honey took a walk about and caught some great photos of Daisy Meadows (YES ~ We named our property! lol )

 Does anyone know the pink tree in the above photo is??? We love it ❤

 Check out the daffodils next to our grist mill above…

 Above is above side of that pink blossomed tree…

Below is our home from across the pond…

 And the other side of the pond looking down at our neighbor’s barn and check out the reflection of this ancient willow tree!!!  A local bald eagle loves to shop our pond for his meals from that willow tree!

 We are hoping the hostas my honey transplanted last year will take off in this flower bed… it gets some sun but not as much as it looks like…

Molly and I got out the cushions after my honey set up the table and chairs to enjoy the springtime weather….

 I did some stitching outdoors on my fusion quilt crochet squares…

In fact I have made lots of progress there this week…

 I am working on the double pink fabric one now 🙂

Speaking of pinks… look what I found next to my quilting frame this week!!!!  Blooms in MARCH!

 Crazy Christmas Cactus!!!!!  and then Molly and I on the golf cart supervising my honey fixing a pipe.  Lots of work in keeping the pond and fish all happy! lol

I don’t have much to show on the hand quilting front… but I did start this block after finishing the sashing to the left…

Being sick with a sinus cold has slowed down my ability to sit long so I am enjoying jumping from one little project to another while I take antibiotics and prednisone <<< makes me a bit jumpy! lol

Linking my fusion quilt…  buttonhole stitches by hand and this bit of slow stitching done at my frame to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching HERE <<<<

One of the things I have enjoyed A LOT this week is cutting out this intricate pieced briefcase!!!!

Jannessa and I each had picked out fabrics for this project… we plan on having a closed door (through the glass) meeting later today to trade off a few things… she will be picking up all the pieces of this project ready to tart working on… and she will bring me some other things to help me with my briefcase 🙂  These will house our laptops and other things when we make trips in the future!

Be honest if you are working on a new project during this time… isn’t it fun to be forced to use your stash in ways you never dreamed of???!!!!  I am really liking the challenge… and also finding shops open who are willing to mail or do curbside delivery if you have one close…

REMEMBER the SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS Y’ALL!!!!

And a Special shout out to my son and daughter in law who just celebrated 3 years of marriage!  They are EMS in a small county in Tennessee and they are on the front lines!!!

 Also TODAY is my Daughter in Law >> Heather <<<  Happy Birthday!  Isn't she beautiful 😀  She if very kind too!!! I am blessed as is my son ! 🙂

As I close I hope this post has uplifted you… please share how you are getting along during this crazy time in a comment below! 

This Pandemic will touch us all in some small or large way before it is done I am afraid… stay calm cool and collected and stay in your home if possible with only your clan!  Let’s keep the wave flat!!!!

Surreal World… Happy Progress Here !

Hope this blog post I am sharing today brings your joy!

Keeping in mind how things have changed in the last week … all over the world! <<<  Try adding one of the above to your new daily routines as they are forming… a good laugh is sooo nice.

Here I am wishing you well!

 This week I got quite jiggy with working on the crochet quilt… It can also be located by searching the interwebs for “fusion quilt”.

 So I exchanged my 10 buttonhole stitched squares for 10 that need buttonhole sititching…

The buttonhole stitching is the base you crochet onto 🙂
   We will see how many blocks get done THIS week !!!
Linking this hand quilting to my HQAL girlfriends 💖

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, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Susan,  Nanette,  Edith, Sharon, Karrin, Gretchen, Kathi,  Bella, Daisy and Connie

 My other Hand Quilt-ing focus this week included some stitching on Appalachian Delight quilt… above you can see how I am quilting each bearpaw block.. below you can see I am in the 2nd of 4th big blocks from the edge.  Little bites at a time on this quilt y’all!
Linking this progress to Kathy’s Crew of Slow Stitchers at her blog HERE <<<<

But most of the week I spent designing and making this!!!!

 Both Julius the 301 and Cleopatra the 319 got in on this fun… first Julius sewed the top into a top… here is my pattern I fashioned after watching several you-tubers ideas on how to make these best! lol

I used flex foam by Pellon to make it sturdy.. sew in not iron on as I didn’t want any wrinkles left behind!

I backed the foam with this backing fabric I had plenty of … and it suited the interior of sweet Cleopatra’s cover.

Then after pin basting I put on the walking foot and quilted this piece….

 Here it is all put together … waiting on the binding to go around the bottom now 🙂

 And Tah – Dah!!!!

Here is my fave shot of all though….

 And while assembling this was fun… changing the bobbin for another job I realized I WON BOBBIN CHICKEN!!!! YAY 👌

 Bullet Journaling update….

 Here is last weeks journaling above… and how I changed it just a bit for this week…
I like this layout y’all!  Keeps me accountable when I lose my momentum 😀

As we go through this next week… make to to video chat or facetime safely with all your fave people..  be safe and stay healthy.  And thanks for stopping by my blog to fill your time 😀

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!

Happy March Y’all!

I am just giddy that March is here… I have enjoyed winter … but Spring… OH MY!!!!

You see we are still seeing THIS …..

 SNOW!!!!

 A look back toward where the above pic was taken… Rick is doing this on the golf cart to test out how it handles on snow…

This tree we call the “popsicle tree”… not sure of it’s type but it held this wet snow well!

 Here is a photo Rick took of the flag in front of our home…

We loved this photo of the flag flying…

 Even the cabin we keep an eye on for the owner got a scenic view!!!!

We even made a video of Rick doing donuts in the yard… on our golf cart that actually traveled on the snow quite nicely!!!!  I tried to add the video here but Blogger doesn’t like it! lol

So besides enjoying Mother Nature’s last hurrah of winter…. I have done some journal keeping and quite a bit of sewing too ❤

working on the base stitching layer of the crochet blocks to be…

Sew when I have the chocolate and purple block done… there is just 1 more block and then I can look in the bag and dig in the closet to find the rest!!!  I can’t remember if I have more ready 😀  I play these games though so that I will see FIRST if I can stay consistent with a project…

Today I may focus on these little squares.  I may ALSO spend some time at my frame though too!!!

Look at this cool shot I took as I stitched this week….

And >> I rolled Appalachian Delight yesterday… I took this photo before rolling to share my progress…

and this close up…

 And this view here looks GREAT rolled down some doesn’t it ❤

The snow made it very bright through the windows so I cropped most of that brightness out! lol
Linking this rolling progress to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching gang HERE <<<  Come visit her blog and see all the benefits hand stitching can do for you too ❤

I am also pondering a new quilt … it won’t be ready for quilting for a while!

Here is the layout….

 It has 72 snowballed blocks and 71 pieced blocks… all the white centers will be ivory…

I am going to you 2 layer cakes… I need to get 1 but have the other…

The one I have is this one here…

 The one I think I want to add for it’s medium tones is this in a layer cake….

 The great news is after some quick calculations I did buy enough of the background fabric… 6 yards and I need 5 for this quilt! whew!!!!

So I won’t be starting this yet… but you will see the Shelbyville~Lancaster Quilt starting soon here 🙂

I have straightened my sewing room so that I could use the cutting mat and cut out & made some reusable cloth dish towels made to be used in place of paper towels… I like them but don’t love the way I made them… I will make some this week and share that photo… but me and Jannessa bought some toweling and now I need to make some proper used rags from it that coordinate with our kitchen and look presentable too.  I will say what I made cleans and washes well though!

Molly has adopted this chair with this quilt in it to nap on when we are in the kitchen… she is soo cute!

 Here is a great shot of sweet Ellie….

 Here is some placemats that I desperately need a plan for quilting…

And now I bid you adieu… I hope you have a great first week of March and don’t forget….

Have a blessed week… Lion or Lamb 😀

Busy Week Here ~ Sew Much to Share !!!

Have you ever stopped to realize how easy a smile spreads when you share one???

Look at this sweet smile… tell me she doesn’t make you wanna grin right back!!!

 Her parents also sent this sweet photo of her with the quilt I made for your play with….

 Later this week Molly got snuggling with her squirrel gifted to her by her boyfriend Max at Christmas….

She loves this toy more than any of her others… it is sooo sweet!  And yes… this is a hand quilted quilt she is snuggling in… it is one I made for her  and my honey to enjoy together!

Due to the weather Jannessa didn’t get to come over for her birthday celebrating until Tuesday the 18th (her birthday was a week earlier !!!).  She had said she preferred chocolate chip cookies for her birthday so I made her a big cookie for her birthday as a surprise and she loved it!!  Then she got her scissor fob too… once home she shared her fob in place…

After she took home her cookie leftovers… we made more cookies  ~ normal sized!!! 😀

This is a shot on our new plates and showing off Jannessa’s great fmq on this table runner in our kitchen!!!!

Here is my journal for this week… it was a VERY busy week for us.. it all didn’t get captured here though!!!! lol

I spent most of my brain power pondering the wallet….

 Above is the beginning of card slots and below you can see those card slots on the interior of the wallet…

 After 2 play dates Jannessa and I each have a wallet to enjoy that is complete!

 I used Tula Pink Squirrels on the outside of mine with black and lavender trims…

 And here it is hanging with my keys… ready for an adventure…

And here are a couple photos of Jannessa’s finished wallet… she made hers able to be a cross body bag instead of a wristlet strap that mine has…..

 
If you are interested in finding out about this wallet/purse check out THIS link for the pattern 🙂

Next up we are making this briefcase by my favorite bag designer Sew Sweetness!!

 And we have each pulled fabrics.  Here are mine….

 We need a few more bits so this will go on the books for mid March to make.

When making bags or wallets USE YOUR IMAGINATION though… look at this example I saw in the Sew Sweetness facebook group …

She took a plain fronted bag and added some amazing fmq details on this and a fancy strap too!

Thursday we had snow… I loved just watching it fall as I quilted and sewed on different projects on my list….

It never accumulated to anything so that made the falling snow all day even more fun to watch!

I have completed 1 of these crochet squares with buttonhole stitching and started on another…

 I am very pleased with how the Appalachian Delight quilting progress is going…

 Here is a close up of one of the bear in the cabin blocks complete on the bottom half of the block (as far as I can reach 🙂  )

 This is the 3rd block over and where I will be working today….

I am linking this progress with my favorite Sunday Stop >>> Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching Linky Party right HERE <<<<  Come on over and see all the different kinds of handwork being shared today!!!

 Here are a last couple of facebook finds with significant meaning to me ….

 What is your love language??? 

Mine is quality time I think… although I love being spoiled with any of the above ways of showing love 💖

In closing I want you to read this remember life is short… live it with zest!

Have a blessed week ahead and thanks for stopping into my little spot from the mountains of North Carolina!!!  I hope you share your fave love language in the comments below 😍