Happy End of May 2020 !

Welcome and come on in!  I have this cozy chair for you to enjoy as you read 🙂

It has been a busy week around here this week… and I have never been so glad to see a month pass… how about you all!!!  Tomorrow is June 2020!!!!  Wonder what it will be like??

Ellie got her frog…Penelope

 Earlier that expected via the USPS….

They said she rolled around the floor with Penelope and loved on her 💖  Makes this Grammy happy for sure!!!!

I had hoped to clean up my sewing room this week… but it remains looking like this…

Hopefully June will give me some energy for straightening and cleaning too ❤  As it went… I mainly spent time with 2 projects in my crafty time…

Appalachian Delight is moving right along…

 Once I finish this section on the right outer border…

 I will be ready to roll and finish the top of the bear in the cabin blocks on this row …

And I will have reached the center of the quilt too then ❤

I have also been focusing some crafty time on embroidering this red work project…

 Here I am with the coffee pot stitched over but trying to decide on the outer ring… should it be buttonhole stitched????

 Or chain stitched ???

 Chain stitching won out … and I added a heart of steam coming out of this coffee pot too !!!

 Next up is the rooster here…

 I found a red work instruction sheet online and printed it off… I like the book I showed last week best still for deciding on all the embroidery stitches…

 Here is a close up of my stem stitching on the roosters wing….

While I have been doing handwork… Connie my bestie has been too ❤

 Here are some of her squares with a different pattern of lace she is crocheting around them 💕

Linking all this hand done fun to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching gang HERE <<<< come see what everyone is doing with their very creative hands 🙂

Our neighbor checked the strawberry patch we had planted 3 years ago and found some fresh and yummy berries for us to eat…

 I put mine on warm cheese danish… and the berries were chilled then… yummmm y’all!

My honey’s new mower… getting washed…

In closing I hope you will choose to be as kind as possible…

 Our world needs it!

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May is a Marvelous Month!

Happy Sunday!  Today – May 17, 2020 – marks 3 years now we have owned our Cassie (Nissan Rogue)… and later this week I will celebrate 9 years as a blogger here too!!!

So smile and grab a cuppa and see what all has been going on around here this week 💖

Last weekend after blogging and reflecting I quilted on Appalachian Delight… I will share that in just a bit 🙂

First I wanna share photos I got last Sunday from a couple of my kids…

Brandi – My Darling Daughter

Mike (my youngest son) with his fiance Kristen

I am soooo happy to have heard from these 2 precious people!!!

And I finished this version of a table runner that day… but I couldn’t leave it as such … while still in flimsy form..

 So I used my new seam ripper from Holli Jo and…

Removed the top piano key border and repinned each intersection and sewed it back on….

Ta dah!!!!  Now it is off to Jannessa’s to be quilted with her talent. 🙂  I will bind it in the dark red I used for the diamonds… all this was an old kit Jannessa was destashing… so I took … SCORE!!!

I managed to get the right outer border done after rolling the quilt last weekend…

 Here is another sashing picture…

 And a cool view I caught for all of us to enjoy…

 Time to Roll!!!!

 And progress is being made from the left side of the quilt to the right side now!!

 Left outer border and inner border are done… and a sashing is done too!

 And this is what waits for me today to work on….

I am linking this great progress on slow stitching this week to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching Linky Party HERE… come see what I am talking about if you haven’t visited Kathy before!!!!

I am also linking with my HQAL group that has some new members since my last posting with them 3 weeks ago…

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, Monica and Sherrie

One thing I enjoy doing while slow stitching all those stitches is listen to audio books and boy did I just finish a GREAT book that kept me on the edge of my seat… And it has a twist at the end… giving it a unexpected happy ending too ❤  I love that!

Look into a audio book service called Chirp… it is an app for your phone, pad, or tablet..  They run sales all the time on audio books so you can get great books for inexpensive then … and you OWN them!

I did buy a paperback book on embroidery stitches… to expand my use on the red work I am working on … while I was perusing my purchase my honey brought in some fresh roses from our yard and presented them to me with water and a sweet vase my bestie gifted me in the past…

Here is a pic I took of Julius … my handsome 301!

 Flanked by my magnetic pin dish… my newest addition a felt and wool pin cushion Jannessa made me… my snip scissors with fob I love… and that awesome sharp and easy to use seam ripper!!!!

Thanks to my super sweet friend Holli Jo… I got an infusion of fabric this week…

Yes there are a couple fabrics in here as shirts for my honey and some for my stash… some for upcoming projects and some I am turning into reusable cloth napkins for our new table runner 🙂

I spent most of the day yesterday figuring out how to cut out the fabric to make this rag animal…

 It is for my grand on her upcoming 1st birthday so I need figure this out 🙂  Have you ever made a rag animal like this?? I can’t find any help online for the process and patterns like this are much different from quilting patterns for sure!!!

During our separation from others we have….

Loved on Molly…

Took a fun selfie…

Planted flowers at the base of our flag pole…

 And repotted the daisy we bought… with 4 or  blooms showing…

 Look how pretty they look post planting…

 Above you can see that rock building… that is our local post office! 🙂  Between us and the post office is a river and a railroad tracks too!!!

Here is a photo of that Gerber Daisy showing 7 or 8 blooms now… I took this yesterday using portait mode on my camera and love the colors better I think! 🙂

How are you spending your days as we isolate more to let the virus die down??  I would love to hear… in the mean time try this in the mornings…

And remember… life is what you choose to make of it ❤  Make it GREAT! 

And I hope you enjoy the blog header and colors I went with for this coming blog writing year 🙂

Welcoming June 2019 Y’all!

These beautiful flowers were given to us as a parting gift from a visiting neighbor when she left to return to Florida 🙂

We have windows open for the first time since early in May and it is soooo invigorating to feel the fresh air moving through the house AND the birds singing their late spring songs 😀

Another neighbor is brave about snakes that live in this region and braved the garden to harvest our returning strawberries and then was kind enough to share a bit of his bounty… so I have been enjoying early morning strawberries with a bit of whipped cream on them too… no sugar needed they are naturally sweet!

You can see roses from the never ending giving bush of roses outside our bedroom window my honey harvested for me when he trimmed off the dead blooms to get fresh ones a place to sprout out… and I finished and washed and we are actively using the table runner as a table runner and a place mat built for 2!!!  We love it 😀

My favorite Bonnie-ism lately…

Remember this on the tough days friends 😀  Life is short… savor every moment and the best is yet to come >>> STAY EXCITED!!!

I made this collage this Friday 🙂

I have this completed now…

And have just this little bit to go before I am ready to add the label and the binding to this quilt …

YAAAAY!

Linking this most awesome progress to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching HERE <<<  Kathy celebrates 7 years of linky party happiness this month 😀  Congrats to her!

Also linking to Wendy’s Peacock Party HERE <<< She has a chocked full post and a great tutorial shown on the following day's post too… talking about on point layout and design!

I will not show Elliana’s quilt again until it has been gifted for several reasons so just enjoy these photos and be ready for a fun reveal in a couple weeks!

I mentioned labeling her quilt…  HERE are some fun label ideas too! 

I will be using THIS pen…

 And making a label like this…

the pen I am using writes heavier and stays better wash after wash and dry after dry than the pen used in the photo above… I am very pleased with it… you may can find it local but you can also find it via Amazon 🙂

I will border with a bit of ribbon for a bit of whimsy across that diagonal top edge to avoid showing stitches… although with the ladder stitch it doesn’t show but this will be more durable I think too!

Next up I will be making a bag for my daughter…

 And a PAIR of these pillow shams I am designing this week …

once the quilt is in the binding / labeling / completing for gifting process 😀

The pillow shams will coordinate with this quilt I hand quilted for my daughter’s high school graduation a few years ago… but she left high school to experience life.

So I finished Star Light ~ Star Bright quilt before we left Florida.  I washed it and have used it on the guest bed as a “carrot” for her … she would get it when she completed her high school education or got her GED.

Well folks!!!!  SHE GOT HER GED >>>>> FRIDAY!!!!! YAY !!!!

She doesn’t want it mailed… she is coming for a visit soon… so she will get it then… I am giddy for her to receive it and the pillow shams are for all her hard work and perseverance in the “growing up” department… she is really getting the hand of adulting now 😀 lol!

Inspiration for the pillow sham design came for the left antique quilt … and the right similar basket design as well since it has a video to show how to put it together on point… however none are the size I need them to be… so I will use graph paper and Math Skills and make my own design for her and her boyfriend (who loves my handmade things)… we also have pillows for the pillow shams so they will be set!!!

Molly likes to lay on her “house” which is a crate where she stays when we leave and at night when we all sleep… we cover it with that quilt I made many moons ago with learning piecing skills and stitching skills… and as of late she has learned this is a comfy spot to chill and watch me quilt!

 She loves it and doesn’t hurt it so all is good 😀  Isn’t she cute up there watching me quilt !

So for now I will let you go check out the links I left you in this post… but please take a moment to appreciate your life… it is worth your time !